Market update: China trade rebounds in July – 08.08.2013

Source: Henderson Global Investors

US stocks fell further on Wednesday. The S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Dow Jones and Nasdaq both finished down 0.3%. Trading volumes again were thin following reignited concerns that the US Federal Reserve would begin tapering of its asset purchase programme.

In Asia, the Nikkei slumped 1.6% today as the yen continued to strengthen while the Shanghai Composite closed modestly lower despite some positive news from China. July exports were up 5.1% year-on-year while imports grew by more than 10%, bettering market expectations. This compares with June’s 3.1% and 0.7% drop respectively.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 is barely changed this morning, up 0.1% and the FTSE 100 is 0.2% higher. Yesterday, the Bank of England revealed its forward guidance for future rate changes. Governor Mark Carney said that the central bank would not raise its benchmark rate until unemployment falls below 7%, which the BOE anticipates will not happen until Q3 2016 at the earliest. On this news, sterling gained against both the US dollar and the euro.