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30 Aug 2018
 |
| South korea financial markets (The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions) |
Global markets were mostly lower Thursday as a weak dollar eclipsed
strong U.S. economic data and signs that the European Union could offer Britain
a special partnership before it leaves the bloc in March.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, Germany's DAX was
down 0.8 percent at 12,456.36 and the CAC 40 in France shed 0.3 percent to
5,485.83 on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.8
percent to 7,499.88. U.S. markets were set for a tepid opening. Dow futures
lost 0.3 percent to 26,072.00 and the broader S&P 500 futures dropped 0.2
percent to 2,909.00.
ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225
added 0.1 percent to 22,869.50 while the Kospi in South Korea dropped 0.1
percent to 2,307.35. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was 0.9 percent lower at 28,164.05.
The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.1 percent to 2,737.74. Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 was almost flat at 6,351.80. Shares fell in Taiwan and were
mixed in Southeast Asia.
U.S ECONOMY GROWS: The U.S. economy grew at a
strong 4.2 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter, the best showing in
nearly four years, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Strength in business
investment offset slightly slower consumer spending, placing growth on track to
produce the country's strongest full-year gain in more than a decade.
Economists expect growth to slow to a still-solid 3 percent annual rate the
rest of the year, resulting in full-year growth of 3 percent for 2018.
BREXIT TALKS: On Wednesday, the European
Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said negotiations with Britain
had reached their "especially difficult" final stretch. He said the
EU was prepared to offer the U.K. a special partnership, one it had struck
"with no other third country." The pound, which has fallen by more
than 15 percent since Britain's 2016 vote to leave the bloc, rose sharply after
Barnier's comment. Separately, Britain's Brexit minister Dominic Raab said that
the U.K. and the EU may not meet their self-imposed October deadline for a
divorce deal, but he remained "stubbornly optimistic" that there
would be agreement before Britain leaves the bloc.
POSSIBLE TRADE DEAL: President Donald Trump
has said that efforts to reach a deal with Canada in the new North American
Free Trade Agreement were "probably on track". The longtime U.S. ally
and the country's second-largest trading partner after China had been left out
of talks for the past five weeks. Canada has until Friday to reach a deal.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a "possibility of
getting to a good deal for Canada" by Trump's deadline but said the
country will not sign a bad agreement. Mexico, long the target of Trump's ire,
has cut a preliminary deal with the United States to replace NAFTA with a pact
that's meant, among other things, to shift more manufacturing into the United
States. Wall Street has rallied for four days as investors grew more hopeful
about trade talks between the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
ANALYST'S TAKE: "The positive impulse
seen in the U.S. market has not flown through to Asia. Weakness of the dollar
has reversed sentiment in the markets overnight," Michael McCarthy, chief
market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said in an interview. The Total Investment & Insurance
Solutions
ENERGY: Oil prices have extended their gains
on concerns that looming sanctions on Iran may cause supply to drop. Benchmark
U.S. crude added 11 cents to $69.62 per barrel in electronic trading on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. The contract edged 1.4 percent higher and closed
Wednesday at $69.51. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 26
cents to $77.72 in London. The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions
CURRENCIES: The dollar tumbled to 111.58 yen
from 111.69 yen. The euro eased to $1.1688 from $1.1699.The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
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