European shares dip as concern over U.S. politics, Ubisoft weighs

LONDON - European shares fell on Wednesday amid a global pullback in stock markets as worries about political turmoil in the United States led investors to seek safety after a strong run sent regional benchmarks to record highs.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.3 percent, as major regional benchmarks tracked a global dip in stocks and the dollar as concerns over U.S. President Trump multiplied.

Euro zone blue chips and the bloc's broader index of stocks both dropped 0.6 percent.

Britain's FTSE 100 on the other hand hovered close to its record high hit on Tuesday, outperforming European peers as gains among miners supported it.

Despite their falls on Wednesday, European benchmarks remain near recent highs, having risen sharply as investors pile in to the region on the back of an economic recovery, robust company earnings and voters' rejection of populist parties in elections.

"Markets broke upwards with the disappearance of concerns around the French election. Quite a lot of fast money came in and markets are just pausing now to digest that," said Stephen Macklow-Smith, head of European equities at JP Morgan Asset Management.

Ubisoft Entertainment, the third-biggest global entertainment company, fell 6 percent after it cut its mid-term sales forecast, reporting results near the bottom end of its target range after the close on Tuesday.

Raiffeisen Bank was a bright spot on a negative banking sector, up 3.5 percent after its first-quarter profit jumped more than expected as write-downs shrank.

Lloyds Bank gained 1.9 percent after the British government sold its last remaining shares in the bank, marking the end of an era after one of the largest financial crisis bailouts.

But the Netherlands' largest domestic lender ABN Amro fell 3.2 percent after its results, with traders citing a lower net interest margin and capital ratio, though the headline net income beat expectations at 615 million euros.

Thyssenkrupp was the top European gainer, up 4 percent after Tata Steel agreed the terms of a deal to cut benefits for its British pension scheme, removing a major obstacle to the potential merger of its steel assets with the German steel maker.

Thyssenkrupp's labour boss said the pensions deal does not lessen workers' opposition to a possible merger, however.

Gold miner Fresnillo rose 2.8 percent as the price of the safe-haven asset rose to a two week high.

Tullow Oil gained 2 percent after JP Morgan reiterated its 'overweight' rating on the stock, saying the oil company had improved its funding position, and valuation had returned to more compelling territory.

Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara got a boost from broker Liberum raising it to 'buy' from 'sell', saying prices of urea, a key ingredient in fertilizers, are close to a trough with fewer capacity additions ahead. Trading in Oslo was closed for the day, however, and the market will reopen on Thursday.

European earnings continued to paint a bright picture for the region's equities, with earnings growth for the quarter seen at 19 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Reporting by Helen Reid, Vikram Subhedar; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Most Asia stocks slide on Fed officials' rate comments, dollar firms

SINGAPORE - Most Asian share markets tumbled on Monday while the U.S. dollar added to gains made after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen indicated a U.S. interest rate increase remains on the cards for this year.

European markets also looked set for a weak start, with financial spread betters expecting Germany's DAX to open down 0.7 percent, and the blue-chip Euro Stoxx 50 to begin the day 0.6 percent lower. British markets are closed for a holiday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended losses to 1 percent.

Japan's Nikkei bucked the trend, closing 2.3 percent higher, the biggest one-day gain in three weeks, as the yen weakened against the resurgent dollar.

China's CSI 300 index and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.4 percent.

The case for a U.S. rate hike has strengthened in recent months, with a lot of new jobs being created, and economic growth looks likely to continue at a moderate pace, Yellen said in a speech at the Fed's annual monetary policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.

While Yellen did not give guidance on what the central bank needs to see before raising rates, she said the Fed already thinks it is close to meeting its goals of maximum employment and stable prices. She described consumer spending as "solid" but noted that U.S. business investment was weak and exports hurt by a strong dollar.

Comments by the Fed's No. 2 policymaker, Vice Chair Stanley Fischer, following Yellen's speech also bolstered the case for a hike this year.

Asked on CNBC whether a rate hike in September and more than one policy tightening before year-end should be expected, Fischer said Yellen's comments were "consistent with answering yes" to both questions, albeit still data-dependent.

Among the first data to be scrutinized will be U.S. consumer confidence for August, due on Tuesday; productivity, manufacturing and construction figures on Thursday; and August non-farm payrolls data rounding out the week on Friday.

Global factory activity surveys will also be released on Thursday.

Traders have modestly raised expectations for U.S. rate increases this year, but remain cautious.

The odds of a hike in September rose to 33 percent following the comments, from 21 percent on Thursday, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Traders were pricing in a 59.1 percent chance of a hike in December, up from 51.8 percent on Thursday.

"While the move toward another Fed rate hike will likely cause bouts of consternation in investment markets I don’t see the same degree of uncertainty that we saw around last year’s Fed rate hike," Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy at AMP Capital in Sydney, wrote in a note.

"It's clear from the Fed's actions this year that it is aware of global risks, the impact of its own actions on those risks and any potential blow back to the U.S. economy and of the impact of a rising U.S. dollar in doing some of its work for it."

The comments from Yellen and Fischer dragged Wall Street lower at the close.

But they proved a boon for the U.S. currency, with the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against six global peers, jumping 0.8 percent on Friday. It held steady at 95.552 on Monday.

The dollar rose 0.5 percent to a two-week high of 102.34 yen on Monday. That followed gains of 1.3 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day advance in almost seven weeks.

Japanese household spending and retail sales data for July are due on Tuesday. Investors are seeking some sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's massive stimulus programs are having an effect, after figures on Friday showed a decline in consumer prices by the most in three years in July.

The euro was flat at $1.120 after tumbling 0.8 percent on Friday, its biggest one-day slide since July 15.

In commodities, crude prices retreated on the rally in the dollar and concerns about growing output after exports from Iraq in August exceeded July levels.

Iran also said late last week that it would only cooperate in upcoming producer talks in September if other exporters recognized Tehran's right to regain market share lost during international sanctions that were only lifted in January.

U.S. crude futures dropped 1.5 percent to $46.95.

Global benchmark Brent crude retreated 1.2 percent to $49.31.

The stronger dollar also weighed on gold. Spot gold slipped 0.2 percent to $1,318.10, after earlier touching a five-week low.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com