On 21 August, 2017 – Most global shares were lower in lackluster trading

Investors are waiting to hear from the Fed chair and ECB president at Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium.
United States
US shares traded around the unchanged mark on Monday with little economic news expected during the week ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium Thursday through Saturday where both Fed Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi are scheduled to appear on Friday. However, continued simmering tensions between the United States and North Korea kept investors on edge, while a drop in oil prices weighed on energy shares. The Dow Jones industrials and S&P edged up 0.1 percent while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent.
Nike was down on a broker downgrade. Johnson Controls advanced after saying its CEO change would happen earlier than announced. Herbalife rallied after the nutritional supplement maker said it would buy back $600 million of shares after ending talks to be taken private. Energy stocks including Chesapeake Energy, Newfield Exploration and Pioneer Natural Resources were lower.
Sempra Energy shares rose after the company outbid Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to buy power-transmission company Oncor. Home Depot advanced. Foot Locker continued to tumble. Freeport-McMoRan and Newmont Mining gained. Tenet Healthcare was higher after two board members resigned on Friday. Target advanced after the retailer provided more information to the Securities and Exchange Commission about its gross margin calculations.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was down US$2.90 to US$1,292.90. Copper futures were up 1.4 percent to US$3.00. WTI spot crude was down US$1.14 to US$47.37. Dated Brent spot crude was down US$1.12 to US$51.60. The US dollar was down against the yen, euro, pound and Swiss franc. It was virtually unchanged against the Canadian and Australian dollars. The Dollar Index was down 0.4 percent. The yield on US Treasury 30 year bond was down 2 basis points to 2.76 percent while the yield on the 10 year note was down 1 basis point to 2.18 percent.
Europe
Stocks retreated Monday. Investors were concerned as tensions between North Korea and the United States flared up again. Investors remain concerned about US President Trump’s ability to implement the policies he promised during the election campaign. Traders were also looking forward to Friday and to comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and ECB President Mario Draghi at the Fed’s economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The FTSE slipped 0.1 percent, the CAC was down 0.5 percent and the DAX was 0.8 percent lower. The SMI managed to edge up 0.1 percent.
Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank Crédit Agricole, Société Générale and BNP Paribas finished lower. In London, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC declined. Total advanced after it agreed to acquire Maersk Oil & Gas A/S, a unit of AP Moller-Maersk A/S, in a $7.45 billion share and debt transaction. Maersk rallied in Copenhagen. John Wood Group was up after winning a five-year, multi-million dollar contract by Phillips 66 refinery.
Fiat Chrysler gained in Milan on reports that China’s Great Wall Motor is interested in buying all or at least part of the Italian-American company. Nestlé and Novartis advanced but Roche declined. Credit Suisse and UBS were lower in Switzerland. Lindt & Sprüngli gained after a broker upgrade. Shire dropped after the company said its finance head will step down. Miners including Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were higher.
Asia Pacific
Asian stocks were mostly lower Monday after Friday’s ouster of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and the start of joint military drills by the US and South Korea today. The US dollar edged away from four-month lows against the yen and oil was stable while gold prices were little changed before of the Federal Reserve’s annual central banking symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Thursday and Friday.
The Shanghai Composite was up 0.6 percent while the Hang Seng added 0.4 percent. Shares were higher after the China Securities Regulatory Commission said Monday morning that a plan by Unicom’s Shanghai unit to tap more than a dozen major investors, including Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings and Baidu, did not violate rules on private placements.
The Nikkei (down 0.4 percent) and Topix (down 0.1 percent) hit fresh 3-1/2-month lows as the dollar hovered near four-month low against the yen on US political woes and amid the annual joint military drill between US and Korean forces. Financial stocks such as banks, securities and insurers underperformed, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Nomura Holdings and Dai-ichi Life Holdings retreating. However, Inpex and Japan Petroleum Exploration gained.
The S&P/ASX dropped 0.4 percent and the All Ordinaries declined 0.3 percent. Banks Commonwealth and NAB dropped. BlueScope Steel plunged almost after its full-year underlying earnings missed estimates and the steelmaker warned of mounting competition. Fortescue Metals Group soared after its annual profit more than doubled. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto also advanced after Chinese iron ore futures soared almost 7 percent on Friday.
The Kospi slipped 0.1 percent on profit taking by foreigners and institutional investors. The Sensex lost 0.8 percent as Infosys extended Friday’s sell-off.
Looking forward
Germany posts the August ZEW survey. In the US, July public sector finances and August CBI industrials trends survey will be released. Canada posts June retail sales. In the US, June FHFA house price index and August Richmond Fed manufacturing index will be released.
Global Stock Markets

*Note — all releases are listed in local time.

Source: Fidelity

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