Market Headlines 17/10/2017

US

• The S&P 500 finished 0.2% higher, with Telecoms and Financials leading advancers. Comments from President Trump on US drug pricing led to weakness in Health Care companies, one of the worst performing sectors for the session.
• In currency markets, the dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of peers, rose 0.1 per cent to 93.17, while the yield on the US 10-year Treasury rose 2 basis points to 2.30 per cent.
• US earnings season kicks into full gear this week with nearly 60 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report. Speeches from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and China’s 19th Communist Party Congress are also likely to command attention for the week ahead.

Europe

• European equities were broadly unchanged yesterday. The Euro Stoxx 50 index was unchanged, the German DAX index gained 0.1% and the UK’s FTSE 100 closed marginally lower.
• Spanish equities, however, underperformed their European peers amid news that the Spanish government has given Catalan leaders until Thursday to back away from claiming independence or face the possibility of direct rule from Madrid. The Spanish IBEX 35 index fell 0.8%.

Asia

• Japanese equities followed the lead of their US peers overnight, gaining 0.4%. However, equities pulled back from intra-session highs following comments from North Korea that nuclear war could “break out at any moment” sparked a degree of caution.