Market Update: Chinese retail sales numbers beat estimates – 10.12.2013

Source: Henderson Global Investors

Wall Street stocks finished slightly higher yesterday with the Dow Jones unchanged and the S&P 500 up 0.2%. The S&P closed at a record high as Chinese inflation data eased worries about policy tightening. Food distributor Sysco rose 9.7% after the company revealed that it would buy rival US Foods to create a company with $65bn in annual revenues. Elsewhere, shares in McDonald's lost 1.1% after the company reported weaker-than-expected global sales at established restaurants for November, hurt by a sharp drop in comparable-store sales in the US.

Asian equities have been in consolidation phase with falls in the Hang Seng (-0.2%) and Nikkei (-0.2%) offset by better risk sentiment in Chinese A-shares (+0.2%). Chinese industrial production data came in roughly in line with consensus, while retail sales numbers managed to beat estimates.

European bourses are unchanged this morning with both the FTSE 100 and FTSE Eurofirst 300 flat as investors remain cautious ahead of a series of industrial and manufacturing output data due out over the morning. Chipmaker CSR was the best performing stock on the FTSE 250, soaring 8.3%, after announcing plans to exit the digital camera market to concentrate on core products. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group gained 1.1% after news that the sale of its remaining stake in St James’s Place, the wealth manager, would boost its capital position by £685m.