On 12 October, 2017 – Stocks were mixed in sluggish trading

With little economic data to guide them, investors monitored earnings reports.
United States
Shares edged lower Thursday after recent gains. The Dow Jones industrials were 0.1 percent lower while the S&P and Nasdaq retreated 0.2 percent.
JPMorgan Chase and Citibank managed to beat profit and revenue estimates despite reporting a drop in trading revenue. Both banks declined. AT&T tumbled after the wireless carrier said it lost 90,000 US video subscribers in the third quarter due to intense competition and the impact of recent hurricanes. Comcast was lower while Viacom declined after warning that Charter Communications subscribers may lose access to its channels as the expiration looms for a distribution deal. Charter also was lower. DXC Technology and Advanced Micro Devices gained. Even though profits beat expectations, Domino’s Pizza declined.
Initial weekly jobless claims were down 15,000 to 243,000. Producer prices were up 0.4 percent on the month and 2.6 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, Fed Gov. Jerome Powell, speaking to the annual meeting of the Institute of International Finance, said emerging markets should be able to withstand the Fed’s tightening initiatives, which could boost the dollar. He also described asset prices as “elevated.” Ex-Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank should adopt “temporary” price-level targeting when interest rates next get stuck at zero.
These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Gold at the afternoon London fixing was up US$1.00 to US$1,290.25. Copper futures were up 0.8 percent to US$3.12. WTI spot crude was down 65 US cents to US$50.65. Dated Brent spot crude was down 63 US cents to US$56.31. The US dollar was up against the euro, Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar. The currency declined against the pound, yen and Australian dollar. The Dollar Index was up 0.15 percent. The yields on both the US Treasury 30 year bond and 10 year note were down 2 basis points to 2.85 percent and 2.32 percent respectively.
European markets
European stocks were mixed Thursday. Economic data was again on the light side and markets had a difficult time extending gains of recent days due to a lack of catalysts. Investors are keeping a watchful eye on the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington DC where European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and other ECB members are due to deliver speeches. The FTSE and SMI added 0.3 percent while the DAX was 0.1 percent higher. The CAC slipped 1.60 points.
Banks were under pressure after the European Commission proposed new measures to strengthen the EU banking sector against future crises. Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Standard Chartered retreated. Lufthansa climbed after it said it would sign an agreement to buy large parts of the bankrupt carrier Air Berlin. Budget airline easyJet gained after Lufthansa’s announcement adding to signs of consolidation in the industry. Accor slid after Australia’s Mantra Group agreed to be bought by the hotel group. Volkswagen was up on a broker upgrade.
Sanofi was lower after saying it would invest €170 million to expand a vaccine manufacturing site in France. Sky gained after the company reported better-than-expected first quarter results and said it is on track to meet its full-year targets. In Zurich, Nestlé gained after it announced a partnership in the healthcare sector with US company Codexis. Novartis rose while Roche declined. UBS and Credit Suisse along with Julius Baer and Partners Group advanced. Swiss Re, Swiss Life and Zurich finished.
August Eurozone industrial output expanded at the fastest pace in nine months. It was largely driven by capital goods output. Industrial production was up a monthly 1.4 percent after increasing 0.3 percent in July.
Asia Pacific
Asian stocks were mostly higher Thursday after the latest FOMC minutes showed Fed officials expressing caution over the timing of future interest rate increases.
The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.1 percent before the Communist Party Congress starting next week. The Hang Seng 0.3 percent.
The Nikkei was up 0.4 percent and the Topix added 0.2 percent after polls suggested that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition is heading for a two-thirds majority in the forthcoming election. This helped offset concerns over a firmer yen. Kobe Steel shares closed higher on bargain hunting after losing over 35 percent this week on data fabrication news. Toshiba rallied after announcing an additional investment of ¥110 billion to expand flash memory production at its Yokkaichi plant. September producer price index was up 3.0 percent when compared with last year after increasing 2.9 percent in August.
Both the S&P/ASX and All Ordinaries were 0.4 percent higher on the day. Banks ANZ, NAB and Westpac advanced. Bank of Queensland rallied after it announced a surprise special dividend after posting impressing earnings numbers. Energy stocks also closed mostly higher after crude oil prices rose for a third straight session overnight. Woodside Petroleum, Origin Energy and Santos climbed. Miners BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto retreated after iron ore prices sank on concerns over falling demand during the winter amid the impending steel output cuts in China. Whitehaven Coal tumbled after unveiling its production and sales figures for the September quarter.
The Kospi was up 0.7 percent as foreign investors extended their buying streak on rising optimism over earnings. The Sensex was 1.1 percent higher thanks to optimism over the earnings season.
Looking Forward
The US releases September consumer price index and retail sales. Preliminary consumer sentiment for October will be reported. August business inventories will be released.
Global Stock Markets

*Note — all releases are listed in local time.

Source: Fidelity

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