Stock Market Update – Sea of red in Europe; Asia mixed; US tax bill judgement day
December 1, 2017 12:25 pm
Asian equities projected a mixed picture today. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 and the Topix indices finished the day higher by 0.4% and 0.25% respectively. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei advanced by as much as 1.2% to stand at its highest since 1992, however it didn’t manage to sustain those gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.35% and the Shanghai Composite remained flat. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3%.
Major Wall Street indices all managed to finish the day higher during yesterday’s trading with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closing at record highs. The Dow, which gained the most (1.4%), posted its strongest daily performance since March, while the fact it finished November on a positive note translated into experiencing its longest monthly winning streak since 1995. It also crossed above the 24,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Republican senator John McCain backing the Senate tax bill spurred optimism the bill would pass and boosted sentiment on Wall Street. However, other impediments that apparently didn’t allow for majority support for the bill led Republicans to push the vote for today. A fallout is expected to lead to a selloff in US stocks.
European bourses traded broadly in the red during morning trading hours in the continent. At 1121 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.8% lower, touching an 11-day low of 383.21 earlier in the day. It is also down on the week. The blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 traded lower by 1.0%.
All Stoxx 600 industry sectors were in negative territory with energy being the least down as yesterday’s OPEC/non-OPEC deal to extent supply cuts through 2018 was providing support to oil prices.
The UK’s FTSE 100, German DAX and French CAC 40 were down by 0.5%, 1.4% and 1.1% respectively with the former two trading at multi-week lows.
The Stoxx 600 Banks sub-index was down by 0.7% – Barclay’s (down 1.7%) was among the worst performers – as financials were taking a hit on the back of uncertainty over the final outcome of tax reform following the US Senate’s decision to suspend a vote yesterday. Stoxx 600 volatility rose to its highest in weeks during today’s trading.
Mid-cap UK-based pharma company Indivior (up 8.3%) led gains within the Stoxx 600 after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its drug to fight opioid addiction.
Danish-based Vestas Wind Systems (down 4.85%) performed the worst within the Stoxx 600. The wind turbine business was suffering as the tax reform debate in the US is generating uncertainty regarding wind-power grants.
Futures markets were reflecting market unease over Republicans’ failure to yesterday agree on a bill that would manage to successfully pass if brought forward on a vote. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were all last down by 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.
Asian equities projected a mixed picture today. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 and the Topix indices finished the day higher by 0.4% and 0.25% respectively. Earlier in the day, the Nikkei advanced by as much as 1.2% to stand at its highest since 1992, however it didn’t manage to sustain those gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.35% and the Shanghai Composite remained flat. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3%.
Major Wall Street indices all managed to finish the day higher during yesterday’s trading with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closing at record highs. The Dow, which gained the most (1.4%), posted its strongest daily performance since March, while the fact it finished November on a positive note translated into experiencing its longest monthly winning streak since 1995. It also crossed above the 24,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Republican senator John McCain backing the Senate tax bill spurred optimism the bill would pass and boosted sentiment on Wall Street. However, other impediments that apparently didn’t allow for majority support for the bill led Republicans to push the vote for today. A fallout is expected to lead to a selloff in US stocks.
European bourses traded broadly in the red during morning trading hours in the continent. At 1121 GMT, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.8% lower, touching an 11-day low of 383.21 earlier in the day. It is also down on the week. The blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 traded lower by 1.0%.
All Stoxx 600 industry sectors were in negative territory with energy being the least down as yesterday’s OPEC/non-OPEC deal to extent supply cuts through 2018 was providing support to oil prices.
The UK’s FTSE 100, German DAX and French CAC 40 were down by 0.5%, 1.4% and 1.1% respectively with the former two trading at multi-week lows.
The Stoxx 600 Banks sub-index was down by 0.7% – Barclay’s (down 1.7%) was among the worst performers – as financials were taking a hit on the back of uncertainty over the final outcome of tax reform following the US Senate’s decision to suspend a vote yesterday. Stoxx 600 volatility rose to its highest in weeks during today’s trading.
Mid-cap UK-based pharma company Indivior (up 8.3%) led gains within the Stoxx 600 after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its drug to fight opioid addiction.
Danish-based Vestas Wind Systems (down 4.85%) performed the worst within the Stoxx 600. The wind turbine business was suffering as the tax reform debate in the US is generating uncertainty regarding wind-power grants.
Futures markets were reflecting market unease over Republicans’ failure to yesterday agree on a bill that would manage to successfully pass if brought forward on a vote. Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were all last down by 0.3%, 0.5% and 0.8% respectively.
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