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Sunshine follows the thunderstorm, but it remains cloudy

At least that seemed to be the general short-term weather situation on the financial markets in the middle of the week. The turbulence on the international stock markets at the end of last week and the beginning of this week has subsided for the time being and optimism has returned to the stock markets. However, the mood does not appear to have changed again in the long term, as the stock indices in New York were already struggling to continue their recovery and the markets in Asia were mixed today in choppy trading. 

Date
Auteur
Alessandro Fezzi, LGT Research Content & Publications
Temps de lecture
5 minutes

Sunshine follwing thunderstorm
© Shutterstock

The Asia-Pacific markets showed no clear trend on Thursday after the US stock market benchmarks fell again overnight. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 and the broad-based Topix fluctuated between gains and losses, falling by 0.3% each. The Bank of Japan (BoJ) published a summary of the statements from its monetary policy meeting in July, which showed that some BoJ members voted in favor of further interest rate hikes. However, the deputy governor of the Japanese central bank, Shinichi Uchida, had previously reassured the markets with the statement that the BoJ would not raise interest rates any further for the time being in view of the recent slump on the stock markets and the turbulence in the yen. China's leading index, the CSI 300, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index made up for their losses, gaining 0.4% and 0.7% respectively. The South Korean Kospi lost 0.5%, while the small-cap Kosdaq remained unchanged. In India, the Reserve Bank of India is expected to keep interest rates at 6.5% for the ninth consecutive month.

Recovery on Wall Street petered out

In New York, the recovery from the three-day slump that had only just begun came to nothing again. The Dow Jones Industrial lost its initial gains in the middle of the week and closed at 38,763.45 points, 0.6% lower than the previous day. Disney shares fell by more than 4%, although the entertainment group's streaming business was in the black for the first time after years of losses. At group level, Disney exceeded market expectations with its quarterly results. The S&P 500 lost just under 0.8% and ended at 5,199.50 points. The indices on the Nasdaq technology exchange fell by around 1.1%. Nvidia shares, for example, lost around 5%.

The yield on ten-year US government bonds trended slightly higher and currently stands at 3.95%.

CEO of shipping giant Maersk sees no signs of a US recession 

Container shipping is one of the most sensitive indicators when it comes to assessing the global economy. One of the largest players in this sector is the Danish shipping company Maersk. CEO Vincent Clerc said in an interview that he currently sees no signs of a recession in the USA or the global economy if one observes the demand for freight. This is still robust. The Maersk CEO also expects container volumes to remain resilient in the coming quarters.

Overall weak data from the German economy 

German exports fell by 3.4% in June compared to the previous month, more than twice as much as expected. This follows a decline of just over 3% in May. At the same time, imports increased by a moderate 0.3% compared to the previous month. As a result, Germany recorded a trade surplus of EUR 20.4 billion in June. A more positive sign came from industry, which increased its production by 1.4% on a monthly basis in June (consensus +1.0%). According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the improved performance in June was due in particular to the increase in the automotive industry. On the other hand, the decline in production observed in May was even more significant at 3.1% than previously assumed at 2.5%, according to revised data.

Corporate and macroeconomic calendars

Corporate news in focus: Quarterly figures from Zurich Insurance, Siemens, Allianz, Munich RE, Rheinmetall, Sandoz, Deutsche Telekom, Eli Lilly.

Economic data in focus: German industrial production, US weekly initial jobless claims.

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Publisher: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd., Glärnischstrasse 36, CH-8027 Zurich
Editor: Alessandro Fezzi
Source: LGT Bank (Switzerland) Ltd.

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