Selling pressure surrounding risky assets has eased somehow
Wall Street stocks slumped on Friday as worries about the economy continue to roil markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.34% to finish up 1.15% on the week. The S&P 500 shed 2.37% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 3.08%. The tech-heavy index was weighed down by losses in Tesla, which declined nearly 8%. On the data front, a University of Michigan survey showed that consumer sentiment climbed in October to 59.8, up from 58.6 in September.
Asian stocks were mixed-to-lower lower on Monday as investor sentiment deteriorated further amid a report that Apple was planning to drop Chinese chips. Still, China’s Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses to finish 0.42% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed less than 0.1%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.5%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gave up 1.16% and South Korean Kospi added 0.32%. Elsewhere, China’s central bank rolled over maturing medium-term policy loans while keeping the interest rate unchanged for a second month.
In Europe, stocks opened slightly higher to start the week in a sign that investor sentiment has improved somehow. US stock index futures edge higher as well, with S&P 500 futures now up 1.0% on the day. Meanwhile, UK finance minister Hunt is expected to deliver a statement on medium-term fiscal plan later today. Investors could be cautious ahead of the event.
Elsewhere, the US dollar stays under some pressure, struggling to regain the 113.00 figure on Monday. The USD index lacks demand as risk-on tone reemerges gradually, preventing the safe-haven US currency from another rally. Against this backdrop, EURUSD edged higher at the start of the week but still struggles to attract more robust demand to regain the descending 20-DMA, today at 0.9770. On the positive side, the shared currency holds above 0.9700 and could stay afloat along with stocks in the near term.
