Global Shares Slide on Heels of Drop in Dow and Spain Attacks -- Update
August 18 2017 - 04:55AM
Dow Jones News
By Justin Yang and Ese Erheriene
-- Global stocks down following Spain attacks
-- Haven assets advance
-- Wall Street poised for lower open
Global stock markets were lower Friday, following an attack in
Barcelona and amid political tensions in the U.S.
European markets opened broadly lower after the Thursday
terrorist assault in which at least 13 people died. The Stoxx
Europe 600 slid 0.9% Friday morning. Spain's benchmark IBEX 35 was
one of Europe's biggest decliners, down 1.1%.
Futures indicated the S&P 500 was poised to open down
0.1%.
Shares of European travel companies suffered some of the largest
losses of the day. International Consolidated Airlines Group
SA--one of the biggest decliners in the U. K.--fell 2.4%. British
airline company EasyJet PLC was down 2.4%. Airline shares in Europe
tend to endure a short-lived selloff in the wake of terror attacks
as investors assess the potential for a hit to tourism.
Simmering geopolitical tensions and the Trump administration's
strained relationship with business leaders saw investors shift to
haven assets, boosting gold by 0.6%. The U.S. 10-year Treasury
yield slid to 2.189% Friday from 2.197% Thursday, according to data
from Tradeweb. Yields move inversely to prices.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket
of currencies, was down 0.3%.
On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its
biggest decline in three months.
"The markets are having a wobble because they don't like the
tweets and the dismissal of business councils," said John Redwood,
chief global strategist at Charles Stanley.
U.S. corporate earnings led premarket activity. Ross Stores Inc.
was one of the biggest gainers, up 11% after beating sales
expectations in its earnings. Shoe retailer Foot Locker Inc. fell
3.6% ahead of its earnings, due before markets open.
In Asia, markets were lower Friday with financial shares among
the region's biggest decliners.
The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.2%. There was added pressure
from the advance of the yen against the dollar, last up 0.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.1%, while Australia's
S&P/ASX 200 narrowed its loss to 0.6%. Korea's Kospi was off
0.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.
Friday's declines reflect investors' increasingly downbeat
attitude about stocks, said Soichiro Monji, general manager of
economic research at Daiwa SB Investments. Investors fear returns
are falling due to slower growth, he said, while risks remain
abundant.
Further woes in the Trump administration after the president's
policy advisory council of executives disbanded risk hurting market
confidence and business sentiment globally.
"Everyone's keeping an eye on that to make sure it doesn't
derail on his agenda. We're already deadlocked on a number of
issues. If that turns further south it could be damaging with the
market," said Mark Spellman, a portfolio manager at Alpine
Funds.
Developments on the looming debt ceiling debate and tax reform
in the U.S. are also being watched closely by investors, Mr.
Spellman said.
Kosaku Narioka and Kenan Machado contributed to this
article.
Write to Ese Erheriene at ese.erheriene@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 18, 2017 05:40 ET (09:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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