Financial Markets – 20/7/2018

Posted 20 Jul 2018 by Alan McCarthy

US

  • Stocks fell on Thursday amid a negative session for Bank shares and criticism of the Federal Reserve by President Trump. The S&P 500 settled 0.4% lower.
  • In a televised interview, President Trump said he was not happy that the Fed was raising rates – “I’m not happy about it…but at the same time I’m letting them do what they feel is best.” US bond yields traded 3 basis points lower (prices rose) for the session.
  • Bank shares fell in tandem with the decline in bond yields, dragging the Financials sector down 1.4%.

 

Europe

  • European equities also closed lower yesterday. The Euro Stoxx 50 index fell 0.4%, the German DAX index lost 0.6% and the French CAC settled 0.5% lower.
  • Basic resources were among the primary underperformers, following 1.6%. Persistent concerns about the growth rate of the Chinese economy led to weakness across commodity-sensitive companies.

 

Asia

  • Stocks ended the week on a mixed note in Asia overnight. Japanese equites closed marginally lower, while Chinese stocks gained 2% amid signs of intervention from Chinese authorities looking to stem the currency’s weakness.

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