On 13 September, 2017 – Stocks were mixed globally with little movement after two days of strong gains

Investors were waiting for Thursday’s Bank of England monetary policy announcement.
United States
US stock indices fluctuated around the unchanged mark showing a lack of direction after rallying on Monday and Tuesday. Banks and technology companies retreated, giving back some of their gains from earlier in the week while retailers and energy companies traded higher. One reason stocks could be holding steady is the looming Federal Reserve meeting next Wednesday (September 20). The Dow Jones industrials and S&P edged 0.1 percent higher while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent lower.
Target said it will hire upwards of 100,000 workers for the holiday season this year, which has investors hoping for a strong holiday shopping period. Nordstrom climbed after CNBC reported that the Nordstrom family is close to a deal to take the company private. The stock has risen over the last three months following talk that descendants of co-founder John Nordstrom, including company executives, might buy the 70 percent of the company they don’t already own. Best Buy, Gap, GameStop and Amazon.com gained. McDonald’s advanced as well. Centene advanced after it said it will expand into New York through a $3.75 billion acquisition of Fidelis Care. Chevron rallied.
Western Digital slumped after its partner Toshiba said it will sell its computer memory business to a consortium led by Bain Capital Private Equity. Western Digital wants to buy that business and has filed a lawsuit to stop Toshiba from selling it to anyone else. Toshiba is trying to offset losses by its Westinghouse Electric nuclear business, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March. Apple declined — investors appeared to be worried about the $999 price tag of the tenth-anniversary iPhone X as well as its later launch date in early November. That could affect Apple’s revenue in the next few quarters. Equifax hit an 18-month low in heavy trading.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was up US$1.05 to US$1,327.55. Copper futures were down 1.7 percent to US$2.98. WTI spot crude was up US$1.15 to US$49.38. Dated Brent spot crude was up 90 US cents to US$55.17. The US dollar was up against all of its major counterparts including the yen, euro, pound, Swiss franc and the Canadian and Australian dollars. The Dollar Index was up 0.6 percent. The yields on both the US Treasury 30 year bond and 10 year note were up 2 basis points to 2.79 and 2.19 percent respectively.
European markets
Stocks were mixed Wednesday with little change overall. Investors were cautious prior to Thursday’s Bank of England monetary policy announcement. They were also monitoring progress on US President Donald Trump’s tax reform bill. The FTSE retreated 0.3 percent while the DAC and DAX added 0.2 percent. The SMI was virtually unchanged (up 0.21 point).
Chipmakers were under pressure after Apple said it would not ship its new iPhone X until November. AMS and Dialog Semiconductor declined. Bayer advanced after it said it has reduced its direct interest in Covestro to 31.5 percent from 40.9 percent. Covestro rallied. Essilor, which is in the process of merging with Italian peer Luxottica, was lower. Vifor Pharma rallied. Credit Suisse and UBS advanced. Roche and Novartis were higher. Nestlé was lower. In London, easyJet advanced after the low cost airline said it would allow customers to use its website to book long-haul flights with other carriers.
Eramet tumbled after Italian lenders Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit announced that they have offloaded about 2.97 million shares in the French mining and metallurgy firm. Vivendi climbed on a broker upgrade. Swatch tumbled — the stock was under pressure after Apple revealed a new generation of Apple Watch. Richemont also was lower even though the company reported a 12 percent increase in sales at constant exchange rates for the five months ended 31 August 2017. Diageo and drug maker GlaxoSmithKline both declined. Miners including Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Anglo American declined along with metal prices.
Eurozone industrial production increased 0.1 percent on the month in July, after sinking 0.6 percent in June. Germany’s inflation accelerated to a four-month high in August on energy prices. The CPI was up 1.8 percent on the year after increasing 1.7 percent in July. UK ILO unemployment rate in the three month to July edged down to 4.3 percent from 4.4 percent for the three months ending in June. Average annual earnings growth for the three months to July held flat at an unexpectedly soft 2.1 percent.
Asia Pacific
Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday even though US stocks hit record highs overnight on expectations that a tax reform plan will get passed this year.
The Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1 percent after a survey indicated that investors were optimistic about economic conditions in August. The Hang Seng was down 0.3 percent.
The Nikkei was up 0.5 percent while the Topix gained 0.6 percent. Shares advanced as the US dollar extended its rally against the yen on easing geopolitical concerns and early assessments of hurricane damage in the US. Exporters Hitachi and Panasonic jumped. Apple supplier Nidec rallied after Apple unveiled three new iPhones. Toshiba was flat after announcing a deal with a consortium to sell its prized chip business. Nomura Holdings and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained. Ebara, agricultural equipment maker Kubota, Panasonic and Nissan Motor rallied. August producer price index rose 2.9 percent on the year after increasing 2.6 percent in July. The index was flat on the month in August after an increase of 0.3 percent in July.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries closed marginally lower. The former was down 2.18 points and the latter declined 2.39 point. Investors ignored encouraging consumer confidence figures from Westpac Bank and the Melbourne Institute. Commonwealth Bank of Australia advanced after Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) Chairman Wayne Byers told a parliamentary committee the bank was “financially sound” despite alleged money-laundering breaches. ANZ and Westpac eked out modest gains while NAB slipped. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto climbed after Chinese steel and iron ore futures regained some ground Tuesday following a five-day retreat.
The Kospi slipped 0.2 percent amid selling by individual and foreign investors. The Sensex edged up 0.1 percent. July industrial production remained subdued as output increased 1.2 percent in July compared with 4.5 percent growth in July last year. August retail inflation accelerated for a second straight month to reach 3.36 percent, dampening interest rate cut hopes.
Looking forward
China releases August fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales. Australia posts August labour force survey. The Swiss National Bank monetary policy assessment will be reported. The Bank of England announces its monetary policy decision. In the US, August consumer price index and weekly jobless claims, money supply and Fed balance sheet will be released.

*Note — all releases are listed in local time.

Source: Fidelity

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