Asian shares trod water on Friday as investors awaited key central bank policy meetings next week amid signs of slowing global growth, while sterling extended its slide on a fresh bout of Brexit anxiety.
Asian Shares
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (MIAPJ0000PUS) was up just 0.05%.
- Europe looked set to be similarly directionless, with pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures (STXEc1) up 0.06% at 3,613.
- German DAX futures (FDXc1) down 0.03% at 12,864.5.
- FTSE futures (FFIc1) up 0.11% at 7,312 in early trade.
- Chinese blue-chips (CSI300) were up by 0.56%.
- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) fell 0.28%.
- Japan’s Nikkei (N225) finished up 0.22%.
- Australian share market (AXJO) managed a 0.68% rise.
Currency Markets
- The British pound, which fell 0.51% on Thursday after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for a general election on Dec. 12, extended its slide, edging down to $1.2845.
- The dollar was slightly higher against the yen at 108.66 and the euro (EUR=) was unchanged on the day at $1.1104.
- The dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, nudged 0.04% higher to 97.669.
Oil Prices
- West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CLc1) was down 0.60% to $55.89 a barrel.
- Brent crude (LCOc1) dipped 0.55% to $61.33 per barrel.
Source: Investing,com
