‘Black Monday’ as Dow Closes Down by 588 Points, FTSE Sees £74 Billion Wiped off its Value
August 25, 2015 6:57 am
Worldwide markets plummeted yesterday, with the plunging Shanghai composite affecting global indices. The FTSE100 saw its value drop by over £70 billion; and with other indices taking a beating, there was a significant degree of nervousness prior to the opening of the US markets. This nervousness proved to be fully justified as the clock struck 09:30 in New York, with the Dow dropping by over 1,000 points in early trading. It later recouped a significant degree of these losses, but subsequently fell again in the later part of the session, closing down by 588 points in the end.
This morning’s Asian session provided mixed messages; the Shanghai Composite continued its apparent freefall, closing down by a further 7.63%, whilst the Nikkei dropped by almost 4%. The Hang Seng, however, closed up slightly, by 0.66%. Similarly, European markets were also telling different stories this morning; over on the continent, the CAC is down by over 3%, whilst the DAX is up by around 2.7%. The UK FTSE 100 is currently up by around 2.3%, with all but two of its constituent stocks currently enjoying gains.
In the currency markets, Dollar/Yen is currently around 120.02, after trading at 116.15 at one point yesterday. EUR/USD is currently trading around 1.1531, having shot up yesterday to a 1.1715 level as investors looked towards safe haven currencies.
In commodities news, West Texas Intermediate crude is at $38.73 per barrel, gaining a dollar after Monday’s 6% drop to $37.75, a 6 ½ year low. Brent Crude is trading around 43.20 barrel, having previously touched $42.23. Early morning trading has Gold trading at $1149.0 per ounce, down by 0.20%.
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta has announced it was targeting savings of about $160 million this year, as it posted a 49 percent fall in first-half core profit, caused by a sharp fall in prices of the commodity. However, the stock is currently up by around 3.5%; in fact, all of the major mining stocks on the FTSE are up, stabilising after yesterday’s sharp drops.
Worldwide markets plummeted yesterday, with the plunging Shanghai composite affecting global indices. The FTSE100 saw its value drop by over £70 billion; and with other indices taking a beating, there was a significant degree of nervousness prior to the opening of the US markets. This nervousness proved to be fully justified as the clock struck 09:30 in New York, with the Dow dropping by over 1,000 points in early trading. It later recouped a significant degree of these losses, but subsequently fell again in the later part of the session, closing down by 588 points in the end.
This morning’s Asian session provided mixed messages; the Shanghai Composite continued its apparent freefall, closing down by a further 7.63%, whilst the Nikkei dropped by almost 4%. The Hang Seng, however, closed up slightly, by 0.66%. Similarly, European markets were also telling different stories this morning; over on the continent, the CAC is down by over 3%, whilst the DAX is up by around 2.7%. The UK FTSE 100 is currently up by around 2.3%, with all but two of its constituent stocks currently enjoying gains.
In the currency markets, Dollar/Yen is currently around 120.02, after trading at 116.15 at one point yesterday. EUR/USD is currently trading around 1.1531, having shot up yesterday to a 1.1715 level as investors looked towards safe haven currencies.
In commodities news, West Texas Intermediate crude is at $38.73 per barrel, gaining a dollar after Monday’s 6% drop to $37.75, a 6 ½ year low. Brent Crude is trading around 43.20 barrel, having previously touched $42.23. Early morning trading has Gold trading at $1149.0 per ounce, down by 0.20%.
Chilean copper miner Antofagasta has announced it was targeting savings of about $160 million this year, as it posted a 49 percent fall in first-half core profit, caused by a sharp fall in prices of the commodity. However, the stock is currently up by around 3.5%; in fact, all of the major mining stocks on the FTSE are up, stabilising after yesterday’s sharp drops.
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