Asian markets have climbed today after better than expected Chinese data revealed that manufacturing had expanded at the fastest pace in five months. Furthermore, Chinese government officials stated that they would cut the reserve requirement ratio for some banks in order to encourage lending and stimulate the economy further. Not surprisingly, many investors were bullish on Asian equities, as anxiety over the health of the world’s second largest economy faded away and tension in Thailand dissipated slightly. All in all, the Nikkei closed up 2.07%, the Hang Seng closed up 0.31%, and the ASX 200 closed up 0.47%.
European markets also performed well today on the back of good Chinese data. Given the importance of China as the world’s manufacturing center, better numbers mean that demand could be rising in the West – giving European investors a reason to be bullish. Though European manufacturing was not particularly strong and German CPI data came out lower than expected, equities faced little downward pressure. Many took the view that bad numbers would increase the probability of intervention by the European Central Bank – a move that would help markets greatly. Thus, the Stoxx 50 closed up 0.10%, the FTSE closed up 0.29%, and the DAX closed up 0.07%.
American markets have fluctuated. Worse than expected European manufacturing data coupled with similar bad data from the United States weighed heavily on indices. However, good data from China provided a counterweight to a lot of pessimism present in the US market. Also, expectations of stimulus from the ECB has also kept US equities from declining too much as investors believe the benefits of a such a move would reach across the Atlantic as well. So far, the Dow is up 0.22%, the S&P is up 0.03%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.21%.
June 2, 2014 – Indices News
Asian markets have climbed today after better than expected Chinese data revealed that manufacturing had expanded at the fastest pace in five months. Furthermore, Chinese government officials stated that they would cut the reserve requirement ratio for some banks in order to encourage lending and stimulate the economy further. Not surprisingly, many investors were bullish on Asian equities, as anxiety over the health of the world’s second largest economy faded away and tension in Thailand dissipated slightly. All in all, the Nikkei closed up 2.07%, the Hang Seng closed up 0.31%, and the ASX 200 closed up 0.47%.
European markets also performed well today on the back of good Chinese data. Given the importance of China as the world’s manufacturing center, better numbers mean that demand could be rising in the West – giving European investors a reason to be bullish. Though European manufacturing was not particularly strong and German CPI data came out lower than expected, equities faced little downward pressure. Many took the view that bad numbers would increase the probability of intervention by the European Central Bank – a move that would help markets greatly. Thus, the Stoxx 50 closed up 0.10%, the FTSE closed up 0.29%, and the DAX closed up 0.07%.
American markets have fluctuated. Worse than expected European manufacturing data coupled with similar bad data from the United States weighed heavily on indices. However, good data from China provided a counterweight to a lot of pessimism present in the US market. Also, expectations of stimulus from the ECB has also kept US equities from declining too much as investors believe the benefits of a such a move would reach across the Atlantic as well. So far, the Dow is up 0.22%, the S&P is up 0.03%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.21%.
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