A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks are mixed in afternoon trade, with gains in healthcare stocks offset by a drop in Apple as investors hunker down for a potential interest rate rise in December.
Apple’s shares fell 3.23 per cent to $US116.67 after Credit Suisse said Apple had cut component orders by as much as 10 per cent, indicating weakening demand for its new iPhones.
“We’re potentially going to see that rate hike in December and you’re coming out of such a strong October, so that’s probably going to keep the lid on the upside,” said Kurt Brunner, a portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group in Philadelphia.
At 2.08 pm EST, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.04 per cent at 17,724.17 points and the S&P 500 was flat at 2,078.48. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.44 per cent to 5,073.10.
LONDON – Weak Chinese data has added to investor concerns about a looming US rate hike, with the euro striking a new six-month dollar low.
China’s consumer price index reading – the weakest since May – comes days after Beijing data showed a sharp fall in imports and exports, adding to worries about the growth slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
Officials said prices rose 1.3 per cent last month, down from 1.6 per cent year-on-year in September.
“A key feature of global economic developments since the 2007 crisis has been the absence of inflation in the major economies,” VTB Capital economist Neil MacKinnon said on Tuesday.
“This reflects a number of factors, but can mostly be attributed to weak global demand and excess supply.”
London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.3 per cent on Tuesday having touched a one-month low during the day, as the China concerns weighed on natural resource companies.
Meanwhile in Paris the CAC 40 ended the day flat and Frankfurt’s DAX 30 added 0.2 per cent.
“The market decline this week has been far from dramatic, which suggests investors could be ready to pounce on the next bullish piece of market information,” said market analyst Jasper Lawler at CMC Markets UK.
“The loss of momentum that first began heading into the US jobs report on Friday has been extended over Monday and Tuesday owed to the couple of disappointing pieces of data from China,” he added.
HONG KONG – A further slowdown in Chinese inflation has compounded worries about the world’s number-two economy, adding to selling pressure in Asian markets as talk of a December US interest rate rise increases.
Liu Li-Gang, the chief Greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in Hong Kong, said the latest data “requires the (People’s Bank of China) to engage in more aggressive policy easing”.
It also brought an end to a five-day rally in Shanghai, which had been boosted Monday by news that authorities will resume initial public offerings this month after a four-month hiatus caused by the summer stock rout.
The market ended 0.2 per cent down – although it pared early hefty losses – and Hong Kong dropped 1.4 per cent, while Sydney, where several firms that rely on Chinese trade are listed, closed 0.4 per cent lower.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent to 19,525.87.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 45.09 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 6002.8.
