On 16 February, 2016 – Global stock indices were mixed Tuesday

US shares continued to rally after their three day holiday weekend. 
United States
Stocks were broadly higher Tuesday, building on their gains from late last week. The Dow Jones industrials were up 1.4 percent, the S&P gained 1.7 percent and the Nasdaq added 2.3 percent.
Shares of the home security services company ADT surged after it accepted an offer from the investment company Apollo Global Management worth $42 per share or $6.94 billion. ADT has 40 days to seek other offers. Shares of Apollo Global also advanced. Hormel Foods gained after it posted a stronger than expected quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the year. Restaurant Brands, the parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons, climbed after it reported its fourth quarter results. Groupon gained after Alibaba disclosed that it had taken a 5.6 percent stake in the company.
Groupon stock was higher Friday after the company reported its fourth quarter results, but the stock remains in a big slump over the last year. Hospital stocks tumbled after Community Health Systems said admissions decreased in the fourth quarter. That was partly because it had more patients last year with respiratory illnesses and the flu. The company took a loss as it absorbed impairment charges and set aside more money to cover unpaid bills. LifePoint Health and HCA Holdings tumbled. Amazon, Home Depot and Lowe’s advanced as did General Electric and Boeing.
Qatar’s energy minister said the world’s big oil producer countries had reached a conditional agreement to freeze production at January levels. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada said the provisional deal, announced after a meeting of oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar, would be contingent on major producers following suit. In a news conference in Doha after the meeting, Ali Al Naimi, the Kingdom’s oil minister, said the meeting was successful. Further, since global supply is already declining as a result of current prices, a freeze in output at levels from the start of the year was “adequate” for the market.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was up US$1.30 to US$1,209.50. Copper futures were up 1.0 percent to US$2.05. WTI spot crude was down 35 US cents to US$29.09. Dated Brent spot crude was down US$1.11 to US$32.28. The US dollar was up against the euro, pound, Swiss franc and the Canadian and Australian dollars. However, it declined against the yen. The Dollar Index was up 0.4 percent. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was up 5 basis points to 2.65 percent while the yield on the 10 year note added 3 basis points to 1.78 percent.
Europe
Most stock markets retreated following a two day rally. Only the FTSE remained in positive territory. Investor sentiment took a hit after German investor confidence dropped to a 16-month low in February. Profit taking in bank stocks also took its toll on the markets following their recent recovery. The FTSE added 0.7 percent. However, the CAC, DAX and SMI lost 0.1 percent, 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.
Energy stocks were in focus after Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela agreed to freeze crude output at January levels. However, most investors had been hoping for a cut in production, due to concerns over global oversupply.
HeidelbergCement declined after the company reported an 11 percent increase in its fourth quarter core profit. Both Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank retreated. E.ON and RWE were down. ThyssenKrupp and Salzgitter slid. In Paris, industrial gas maker Air Liquide dropped despite its 2015 profit meeting estimates. Michelin advanced on reporting a 19 percent increase in annual earnings, buoyed by higher sales and a weak euro. EDF soared — the utility reduced its dividend after reporting a 68 percent fall in 2105 net profit due to asset impairments and provisions. In London, Anglo American advanced. The company announced detailed and wide-ranging measures to sustainably improve cash flows and materially reduce net debt after reporting a wider net loss for last year. Standard Chartered was down on a broker downgrade.
German investor confidence as measured by the ZEW survey plunged to a 16-month low in February hurt by worries over the global economic slowdown and falling oil prices. Economic sentiment index dropped to 1 from 10.2 in January, falling for a second straight month. It adds to pressure on the European Central Bank to come up with solid measures to boost euro area growth and raise inflation to its 2 percent target level.
UK consumer price index for January added 0.3 percent on the month on a slower pace of declines in motor fuel and food prices. The CPI was up for the third consecutive month and the fastest since December 2014.
Asia Pacific
Asian shares mostly advanced for a second consecutive session after oil prices jumped on hopes of production cuts, the yen weakened and data showed Chinese banks extended a record 2.51 trillion yuan ($385.40 billion) of new loans in January in the wake of increased liquidity injections by the Peoples Bank of China ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. Strong gains in Europe overnight, boosted by comments from ECB President Mario Draghi that the central bank is ready to ease policy further in March if needed also supported underlying sentiment.
Shanghai and Hong Kong stocks rallied as a stabilizing yuan and solid economic data bolstered investor confidence. While China’s Shanghai Composite climbed 3.3 percent while the Hang Seng was 1.1 percent higher. Sentiment was lifted following upbeat bank lending data and comments from China’s premier, who hinted of fresh stimulus if the economy slowed further.
The Nikkei edged 0.2 percent higher after soaring 7.2 percent on Monday. Softbank jumped as the company unveiled a $4.4 billion share buyback. Exporters Sharp, Sony, Hitachi and Mazda Motor gained. Toshiba jumped after denying media reports that it is considering ending PC production. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied and energy explorer Inpex advanced. Kirin Holdings plunged after the brewer posted its first annual loss since 1949.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries added 1.4 percent. NAB gained 0.9 percent after reporting an 8 percent increase in first quarter cash profit. ANZ, which is due to release its quarterly results on Wednesday, gained as did Westpac. Commonwealth Bank pared losses but ended lower as shares went ex-dividend. Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group gained. Newcrest and Evolution Mining retreated after gold prices fell sharply on Monday.
The Kospi was 1.4 percent higher the upturn in oil prices and the ECB’s comments that it won’t hesitate to boost its stimulus in March helped eased investors’ concerns about the global economic recovery. The Sensex however, retreated 1.5 percent after disappointing merchandise trade data as well as fresh rupee weakness stoked worries about domestic economic growth.
Global Stock Markets

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 December machine orders. The UK releases its January labour market report. In the US, January housing starts, producer prices and industrial production will be reported. The Federal Reserve publishes minutes of the January 26 and 27 FOMC meeting.
*Note — all releases are listed in local time.