Investors fret about the state of the world economy, as Australia’s economy falters and Chinese stocks drop again * Japan’s Nikkei drops again * Australian GDP misses forecasts 8.40am BST DESPITE A VALIANT LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT BY CHINESE OFFICIALS, THE SHANGHAI STOCK MARKET HAS JUST CLOSED DOWN 0.2%. The ‘National Team’ has been busying itself in the stock markets, scaring off any bearish sentiment. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) initially opened down 4.4%, but optimism over the coming two-day holiday and general patriotic sentiment seemed to spur the markets upward. Not even close: Shanghai -0.2% at 3,160. #threelossesinarow Worst. Military. Parade. Ever. 8.20am BST AS PREDICTED, EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS ARE PUSHING HIGHER AT THE START OF TRADING. The FTSE 100 is up 50 points, or 0.8%, a small recovery after Tuesday’s 3% tumble. The other European equities indices are also a little higher. After US GDP was revised up last week and China data disappointed yesterday along with Canadian GDP, we had Aussie GDP miss overnight suggesting knock-on from China slowdown and commodities price declines. This adds to the muddy picture over global growth and thus monetary policy direction, notably on the other side of the pond. 8.15am BST THE OIL PRICE IS COMING UNDER FRESH PRESSURE THIS MORNING TOO, IN ANOTHER SIGN THAT INVESTORS FEAR LOWER DEMAND FOR ENERGY. 8.00am BST MARKETS HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED ONE PIECE OF BAD NEWS TODAY - AUSTRALIA’S ECONOMY HAS FALTERED. Q2 GDP Australia 0.2% Cyprus 0.5% Lithuania 0.6% UK 0.7% Greece, Slovakia, Estonia 0.8% Czech, Poland 0.9% Spain, Sweden 1.0% Latvia 1.2% Related: Jitters as Australian economy grows by just 0.2% in June quarter 7.37am BST GOOD MORNING. Europe #stocks ready for small rebound...futures signal gains after worldwide sell-off yesterday. Asia trading remains lower & volatile The message from manufacturing PMI day across many of the world’s key economies is that, despite the extended period of liquidity support, the sector is displaying less traction than hoped as demand falters in several regions. Those central bankers anxious to normalise policy were not expecting such news; nor were equity investors. Continue reading...
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