Asia
Stock markets in the region were mixed on Thursday after a lower close on Wall Street following the Federal Reserve meeting. China’s CSI 300 was up nearly 1% on the day but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was over 1% lower.
US-China trade talks begin in earnest today with the arrival of US negotiators in Beijing.
Japanese markets were closed for today and tomorrow as part of the Golden Week celebrations.
Europe
Markets in Europe inevitably tracked the weaker sentiment in the US and Asia, with Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC 40 both modestly lower on the day. The FTSE 100 just managed to climb into positive territory in midmorning trading, with banks, housebuilders and commodity firms in the ascendant.
The last of the PMI surveys, services, came in below expectations for April but still above the 50 level that marks the difference between expansion and contraction. Yesterday construction PMI beat expectations, but the day before manufacturing was below forecasts but still expanding at a healthy rate.
Smith & Nephew (SN) was off sharply after lowering its full-year earnings guidance after a tricky first quarter.
North America
After the Federal Reserve meeting this week, investors’ attention now turns to US job numbers for April. The economy is expected to have added 190,000 jobs in the month, against 103,000 in March – a figure that came in below expectations.
Tesla (TSLA) continued its love-hate relationship with the financial community and the media by remaining upbeat despite posting a loss of nearly $800 million for the first quarter. Revenue was up, however, and the electric car firm is expecting to produce 5,000 Model 3 cars a week this quarter. Tesla is rated as a two-star stock by Morningstar equity analysts, meaning it is overvalued - the fair value estimate is $235 a share, against a current price just above $400.
Xerox (XRX) is among the companies reporting on Thursday.
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