Tue Dec 23, 2014 5:18am EST
(Recasts after European markets open, changes dateline from previous SYDNEY)
* Santa rally extends in Europe in thinning trade
* Greece, China worries in background
* Asian markets thin and sluggish as Tokyo on holiday
By Patrick Graham
LONDON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - The year-end rally on Europe's major stock exchanges edged into its sixth day on Tuesday, just managing to ride out growing concerns over Greece and the pace of growth in China, in markets thinned out by the Christmas holiday season.
Britain's FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent, Germany's DAX index up 0.1 percent and France's CAC 40 up 0.3 percent.
But Greek shares fell almost 2 percent as investors looked nervously at a presidential election that may spark a snap election and eventually threaten the country's commitment to its international bailout.
Shanghai shares also fell the most in two weeks as investors took some profit on infrastructure stocks and a fall in prices of iron for construction - an indicator that property investment in China is weakening - spooked the Australian dollar.
But the tone overall has been steadier for the past few days, thanks largely to a stabilisation of oil prices - and a resulting quietening of Russia's currency problems. A pre-Christmas rush of U.S. data due later may also underline the improvement in the world's biggest economy.
"We are likely to see some impressive U.S. data on Tuesday. This would be the first time since 2003 we have seen two consecutive quarters of GDP growth above 4.0 percent," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note to clients.
Trading was light in Asia with Japan on holiday and markets moved only marginally. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.3 percent.
Trade was also thin in Europe.
"Most investors have closed their books for the year. There's not a lot of volume, and indexes are mostly in a neutral zone for now," said Jean-Louis Cussac, head of Paris-based firm Perceval Finance.
There was a brief blip lower for sterling on the back of a shockingly large current account deficit and downward revisions of gross domestic product.
Olivier Blanchard, chief economist at the IMF, and Rabah Arezki, head of the commodities research team, talked up the impact of lower oil prices on economic growth forecasts in a blog on Monday.
They estimated the boost to world growth would be between 0.3 and 0.7 percentage points above the Fund's baseline forecast of 3.8 percent in 2015, with the gain to China ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points.
Greek bond yields rose before the second round of the presidential vote. There have been some positive signs, but local media calculate Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is still 11 votes short of the parliamentary support he needs in a final vote next week to elect a new president and avoid an election.
"Any number that's coming closer to 180 would lead to higher expectations of a remaining chance for the current government staying in charge," DZ Bank strategist Christian Lenk said.
"But it's like a poker game. MPs will not show their hand in the second round." (Editing by Hugh Lawson)
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
GLOBAL MARKETS-Christmas rally enters sixth day in Europe
Dengan url
http://sarapannasiudak.blogspot.com/2014/12/global-markets-christmas-rally-enters.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
GLOBAL MARKETS-Christmas rally enters sixth day in Europe
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
GLOBAL MARKETS-Christmas rally enters sixth day in Europe
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar