Equity markets in Europe post modest losses Wednesday morning, tracking falls in Asia and on Wall Street overnight as traders take cash off the table amid growing unease with the violence in Iraq.
This is the fourth day of losses for European stocks and comes after declines in Asian markets overnight and a weak session in the US where the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%– its biggest fall in two weeks.
On Tuesday, Syrian war planes struck targets in western Iraq, killing at least 50 people. This rattled sentiment across global markets overnight, driving up oil prices. It’s also being reported that insurgents are firming their hold on parts of Iraq, raising worries about their grip on the country.
Brent crude remains at elevated levels not seen since around September 2013 – Brent was last seen around $114.25 while Nymex was at around $106.72.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.6% while London’s FTSE 100 was off 0.5% and Frankfurt’s DAX down by 0.7%. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures retreated less than 0.1% while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4%.
At the same time, Ukraine tensions are back at the forefront following reports that the US is preparing fresh sanctions on Russia aimed at specific areas of the Russian economy including energy and technology – the US is looking to add more pressure on Russia to further destabilise the situation there.
Outside of equities, the FX market was subdued with the US dollar largely unchanged in directionless trade amid the geopolitical instability and weaker stock market performance.The dollar declined to Y101.90 from Y101.96 while the euro was steady at $1.3608 against the USD and was at Y138.67 against the yen.
The UK pound is lower at $1.6952, under the $1.70 mark after its recent rally against the dollar cools following more dovish comments from governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney who leaves the market second-guessing the timing of the first rate increase.
Overnight in Asia, the geopolitical fears hit anxious traders causing stocks to fall with the Shanghai Composite down 0.6% while the Hang Seng off by 0.2%.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 down 0.7% as invested digested Tuesday’s announcement of structural reforms from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Looking ahead, we have the third reading of US GDP data for the first quarter which is forecast to show the world’s largest economy shrank 1.8% during the period – this figure would be revised lower from its second reading of 1% after the severe winter in the US. Together with GDP figures, we also have durable goods orders to watch out for.
Equity markets in Europe post modest losses Wednesday morning, tracking falls in Asia and on Wall Street overnight as traders take cash off the table amid growing unease with the violence in Iraq.
This is the fourth day of losses for European stocks and comes after declines in Asian markets overnight and a weak session in the US where the S&P 500 slipped 0.6%– its biggest fall in two weeks.
On Tuesday, Syrian war planes struck targets in western Iraq, killing at least 50 people. This rattled sentiment across global markets overnight, driving up oil prices. It’s also being reported that insurgents are firming their hold on parts of Iraq, raising worries about their grip on the country.
Brent crude remains at elevated levels not seen since around September 2013 – Brent was last seen around $114.25 while Nymex was at around $106.72.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.6% while London’s FTSE 100 was off 0.5% and Frankfurt’s DAX down by 0.7%. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures retreated less than 0.1% while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.4%.
At the same time, Ukraine tensions are back at the forefront following reports that the US is preparing fresh sanctions on Russia aimed at specific areas of the Russian economy including energy and technology – the US is looking to add more pressure on Russia to further destabilise the situation there.
Outside of equities, the FX market was subdued with the US dollar largely unchanged in directionless trade amid the geopolitical instability and weaker stock market performance.The dollar declined to Y101.90 from Y101.96 while the euro was steady at $1.3608 against the USD and was at Y138.67 against the yen.
The UK pound is lower at $1.6952, under the $1.70 mark after its recent rally against the dollar cools following more dovish comments from governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney who leaves the market second-guessing the timing of the first rate increase.
Overnight in Asia, the geopolitical fears hit anxious traders causing stocks to fall with the Shanghai Composite down 0.6% while the Hang Seng off by 0.2%.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 down 0.7% as invested digested Tuesday’s announcement of structural reforms from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Looking ahead, we have the third reading of US GDP data for the first quarter which is forecast to show the world’s largest economy shrank 1.8% during the period – this figure would be revised lower from its second reading of 1% after the severe winter in the US. Together with GDP figures, we also have durable goods orders to watch out for.
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