Market Buzz: Data driven
Russian equities are likely to open slightly higher Friday, reflecting festive sentiment in Asia and hopes for a positive US job report due later this day.
Russian markets closed in the red Thursday amid a lack of positive drivers from Europe. The MICEX declined 1% and the RTS shed 0.5%, with energy shares extending losses.European stock markets closed lower after a volatile session Thursday as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept their interest rates on hold at 0.75% and 0.5% respectively. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped less than 0.1%. Spain’s IBEX 35 fell 0.2%, but borrowing costs dropped as the government sold 3.992 billion euro at auction. The French CAC 40 fell 0.1% and Germnay’s DAX 30 dropped 0.2%.US stocks rose on Thursday after an improved weekly report on US labor market lifted investor sentiment a day before the September employment report. The Dow Jones rose 0.6%, the S&P 500 added 0.7%, with financial and energy shares leading gains, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5%.Asian stocks mostly rose Friday, supported by commodity-related firms. South Korea’s Kospi traded flat and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.3%, while mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the Golden Week holidays. However, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.1%, after the Bank of Japan stopped short of announcing fresh monetary easing, while also keeping its interest rate unchanged.
