Asian markets climbed earlier today on better than expected US data from yesterday. Both Durable goods orders and CB Consumer Confidence either met or exceeded expectations, making investors more confident in the strength of the US economy. Given that the US consumes a lot of Asian goods, a stronger US economy also makes investors bullish on Asian equities. Though there still is some concern about China’s economic growth, most analysts still believe the government will act to promote growth. Consequently, markets in the east have made an impressive showing, with the Nikkei up 0.24%, the Hang Seng up 0.59%, and the ASX 200 up 0.28%.
European markets have been mostly unchanged amid mixed corporate data. Companies like Elekta and Osram Licht slipped while others like Smith & Nephew rose. The main event for investors today was the scandal surrounding GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, which today was formally charged with bribing officials in China. Despite the severity of the situation, European indices did not move too much. The Stoxx 50 ended up 0.06%, the FTSE ended higher 0.09%, and the DAX fell 0.02%.
American markets are also fluctuating today after rallying for the whole week to data. On the whole, the retail sector under-performed while phone and utility firms made up for the loss. Though data was bullish yesterday, many are expected bearish GDP data to come out tomorrow, and consequently investors are unsure where markets may go. So far, the Dow is down 0.05%, the S&P is up 0.06%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.11%.
May 28, 2014 – Indices News
Asian markets climbed earlier today on better than expected US data from yesterday. Both Durable goods orders and CB Consumer Confidence either met or exceeded expectations, making investors more confident in the strength of the US economy. Given that the US consumes a lot of Asian goods, a stronger US economy also makes investors bullish on Asian equities. Though there still is some concern about China’s economic growth, most analysts still believe the government will act to promote growth. Consequently, markets in the east have made an impressive showing, with the Nikkei up 0.24%, the Hang Seng up 0.59%, and the ASX 200 up 0.28%.
European markets have been mostly unchanged amid mixed corporate data. Companies like Elekta and Osram Licht slipped while others like Smith & Nephew rose. The main event for investors today was the scandal surrounding GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, which today was formally charged with bribing officials in China. Despite the severity of the situation, European indices did not move too much. The Stoxx 50 ended up 0.06%, the FTSE ended higher 0.09%, and the DAX fell 0.02%.
American markets are also fluctuating today after rallying for the whole week to data. On the whole, the retail sector under-performed while phone and utility firms made up for the loss. Though data was bullish yesterday, many are expected bearish GDP data to come out tomorrow, and consequently investors are unsure where markets may go. So far, the Dow is down 0.05%, the S&P is up 0.06%, and the Nasdaq is down 0.11%.
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