On 20 October, 2015 – Global markets were mixed

Investors waited for the European Central Bank announcement Thursday and a bundle of earnings.
United States
Stocks drifted between small gains and losses Tuesday as investors pored through some weak company earnings reports and the latest deal news. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P edged 0.1% lower while Nasdaq retreated 0.5%. Roughly 57% of the companies in the S&P 500 index report earnings over the next two weeks.
Investors bid up shares in SanDisk after media reports indicating that the data storage company is in advanced talks to sell to a rival, Western Digital. SanDisk stock gained while shares of Western Digital declined. Team Health Holdings vaulted on news that AmSurg is offering to buy the health care staff and services company in a cash-and-stock deal worth about US$7.8 billion. IBM shares tumbled a day after the company’s latest earnings report showed that weak hardware sales and a strong dollar had brought its revenue down. It was the 14th consecutive quarter of revenue declines. Harley-Davidson stock sank after the company reported a drop in third quarter profit and cut its forecasts for motorcycle shipments. Shares of Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, gained after the company said it planned to spin off its China business which has stumbled recently.
September housing starts jumped 6.5% on the month to an annual rate of 1.21 million homes. A 17% surge in multifamily housing, which includes apartments, accounted for nearly all of the increase. Home builder stocks rose broadly after the report was released including Lennar and DR Horton.
Gold at the afternoon London fixing was up US$2.35 to US$1,177.75. Copper futures were down 0.1% to US$2.37. WTI spot crude was down 34 US cent to US$45.55. Dated Brent spot crude was up 3 US cents to US$48.64. The US dollar was up against the pound and the yen. It was virtually unchanged against the Swiss franc. However, it declined against the euro and the Canadian and Australian dollars. The Dollar Index was virtually unchanged. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was up 3 basis points to 2.92% while the yield on the 10 year note was up 4 basis points to 2.07%.
Europe
Stock indices were mostly lower Tuesday. China concerns remain after Monday’s disappointing GDP report, but the focus of investors now is on the central banks. The European Central Bank will announce its monetary policy decision on Thursday in Malta. The FTSE edged down 0.1%, the CAC and SMI retreated 0.6%, and the DAX slipped 0.2%.
Volkswagen was down despite a recent survey by market-research firm Prophet found that two-thirds of Germans still believe Volkswagen builds “outstanding” cars. Deutsche Bank declined after the lender paid US$6 billion to a US hedge fund client by mistake in a “fat finger” trade on its foreign exchange desk this summer. SAP gained after the business software maker said its newer Internet-based cloud business could top full-year targets in the fourth quarter. Manz climbed after it signed a cooperation agreement with Adidas in connection with the adidas “Speedfactory” initiative.
Whitbread gained after its profit rose 14% in the first half, beating expectations. InterContinental Hotels Group surged after its third quarter comparable RevPAR went up 4.8%. Inmarsat increased after it signed a 10-year connectivity services contract with Lufthansa. Actelion rose in Zurich after it reported 9-month results. Glencore advanced after dropping in earlier trading. Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American also were down. Swatch Group and Financiere Richemont retreated after a report showed Swiss watch exports had their biggest quarterly decline since 2009. Deutsche Telekom climbed after people familiar with the matter said it is considering selling T-Mobile Netherlands. TNT Express jumped after Reuters reported the European Union will give antitrust clearance to FedEx’s planned takeover of the Dutch company.
Credit conditions on consumer credit and other lending to households eased in the third quarter, according to the ECB’s quarterly Bank Lending Survey. Competition was the main driver of banks’ easing of credit standards for loans to enterprises.
Asia Pacific
Stocks were mixed as lower commodity prices on worries about China’s slowing growth and a flat lead from US stocks kept many investors in a defensive mode. Amid lack of any major triggers, traders looked ahead to the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting due on Thursday for further direction. The Shanghai Composite increased 1.1% in late trading while the Hang Seng retreated 0.4%.
The Nikkei added 0.4% as investors looked ahead to the upcoming ECB and BoJ policy meetings. NTT DoCoMo climbed on reports of a tie-up with Nippon Life Insurance to sell life insurance policies at its shops across the country. KDDI and Softbank advanced. Asahi Kasei, the parent company of Asahi Kasei Construction Materials which is being investigated by the government over faulty work at a Yokohama apartment complex, was down. Sumitomo Mitsui Construction and Mitsui Fudosan also retreated. Takata declined after General Motors issued another recall for vehicles affected by its faulty airbags.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries were down 0.6%. Weaker Chinese data continued to weigh on commodity prices and the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s October board meeting signaled no imminent easing. While banking, mining and energy stocks lost ground, CSL and Telstra jumped on defensive buying. The big four banks fell after the federal government largely backed most of the recommendations in David Murray’s report on Australia’s financial system.
The Kospi added 0.4% on institutional buying. The Sensex slipped 0.2% on profit taking.
Global Stock Market Recap

Please remember, the value of investments and the income from them can do down as well as up. Funds that invest in overseas markets may be subject to currency fluctuations. Investments in small and emerging markets can be more volatile than other overseas markets. Reference in this document to specific securities should not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell these securities, but is included for the purposes of illustration only.
Looking forward*
Japan posts September merchandise trade balance. The Bank of Canada announces its monetary policy decision and publishes its Monetary Policy Report.
*Note — all releases are listed in local time.