A roundup of trading on major world markets.
NEW YORK – A downcast earnings forecast from Wal-Mart Stores and a lacklustre US retail sales report sent retail stocks diving Wednesday as US stocks finished lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 157.14 points (0.92 per cent) to 16,924.75.
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 9.45 points (0.47 per cent) to 1,994.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 13.76 points (0.29 per cent) to 4,782.85.
The Commerce Department reported US retail sales for September rose just 0.1 per cent from August, half the increase expected by analysts.
Retail behemoth Wal-Mart, a Dow member, plunged 10.0 per cent after it predicted earnings per share would fall between six and 12 per cent in fiscal 2017 that begins on February 1 due to heavy investment in higher wages and e-commerce.
LONDON – Resurgent worries over China’s slowdown have sent European stocks lower, while disappointing US data rekindling hopes for a delay in an interest rate hike failed to revive the markets.
Asian shares tumbled on Wednesday on data showing that China’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate rose 1.6 year-on-year in September.
Early European trading was dominated by the Chinese data, but share indices briefly recovered in the wake of disappointing US data being seen as a sign the US Federal Reserve may hold off raising interest rates further.
Frankfurt’s DAX 30 fell 1.17 per cent to close at 9,915.85 points, while the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.74 per cent to 4,609.03.
Despite news that Britain’s jobless total has struck a seven-year low, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index slumped 1.15 per cent to 6,269.61.
HONG KONG – Worries about the slowdown in Chinese growth has kept the pressure on Asian financial markets, with traders following their US and European counterparts to the sidelines.
However, news that consumer inflation in China had eased in September while producer prices plunged fed hopes Beijing will launch another round of stimulus, as leaders struggle to get a handle on the country’s deepening economic crisis.
A recent rally across global equities and currency markets this month was brought to a halt on Tuesday when China released figures showing imports plunged by more than a fifth in September while exports also declined.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Wednesday lost 0.93 per cent, or 30.79 points, to 3,262.44 and
in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index ended 0.71 per cent, or 160.55 points, down at 22,439.91.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 343.74 points to 17,891.00, a second straight loss and the first time it has been below 18,000 since October 2.
