Market update: European markets slide before FOMC and BoE meeting minutes – 20.11.2013

Source: Henderson Global Investors

Wall Street closed lower yesterday with the Dow Jones down 0.1% and the S&P 500 down 0.2%. Shares in CME rose 1.7%, and are up 49.6% in the past 12 months, as the largest US futures exchange has been able to raise fees due to its outsized market share. Elsewhere, Salesforce.com shares fell 5% after the cloud computing company reported a loss of $124.4m in the third quarter, and fourth-quarter earnings projections were below expectations.

In Asia, the Japanese trade balance deteriorated in October due to surging fossil fuel imports, while exports grew 18.6% year-on-year, beating expectations of 16.2%. In China, the H-share index is poised to close higher for its fifth consecutive day; its longest winning streak in three months. During the past five days, the index has added about 11%, and has significantly outperformed its domestic onshore counterpart, the Shanghai Composite, which is up just 5%.

European stocks are lower this morning with the FTSE 100 and the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 0.2% and 0.1% respectively, as investors wait on the release of meeting minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and Bank of England (BoE). In stock news, Diageo lost ground on concerns that uncertainties in the global economy will hurt sales growth for the world's biggest distiller. Elsewhere, Serco Group declined after reports that the British government services company withdrew from a bid to handle UK military purchasing.