A rally spurred by optimism over the U.S. economy and a rebound
in commodity prices lost some steam Friday, as European shares and
U.S. stock futures slipped.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was 0.6% lower by midmorning, while U.S.
futures pointed to a 0.7%, or 114 point, opening loss for the Dow
Jones Industrial Average. S&P 500 futures fell 0.8%. Changes in
futures, however, don't necessarily accurately reflect moves after
the opening bell.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index ended the session 4.8%
higher, amid suspected government buying of Chinese stocks.
Beijing implemented many measures this week in a bid to spur its
economy, including an interest-rate cut and liquidity injections,
after a move earlier this month to devalue the yuan which roiled
global markets.
That has helped stocks to recover some of their losses, but the
Shanghai Composite is still close to 8% lower since this time last
Friday.
Elsewhere in Asia on Friday, Japan's Nikkei rose 3% while the
Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.0%.
The mixed picture in global stocks reflects investors'
uncertainty, said Guy Foster, head of research at wealth manager
Brewin Dolphin.
"There are a lot of irrational moves going on in markets as a
result of investors not really knowing how to read what's
happening," he added.
Ahead of the weekend, some investors were eager to reduce their
exposure to risk, in the form of stocks, said Neil Mellor, a
strategist at Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
"The situation is still so uncertain," he said.
Stocks and commodities were pummeled earlier this week amid
fears of a slowdown in China's economy, then staged a dramatic
recovery.
Following a strong reading of U.S. gross domestic product
Thursday—which expanded 3.7%in the second quarter, up from an
initial estimate of 2.3% growth— oil prices soared more than 10% to
their biggest percentage gain in years.
On Friday, Brent crude was down 1.3% at $46.96 a barrel.
Emerging-market currencies that had rebounded Thursday were largely
weaker on the day against the dollar.
Barclays economists wrote in a note to clients that we haven't
yet reached "the end of the storm."
"Concerns about China's economy continue to act as a major
weight on [emerging market] sentiment," they wrote, adding that any
rebound in those assets may be difficult to sustain.
Later in the session, investors will focus their attention on a
conference of central bankers from around the world in Jackson
Hole, Wyo., that is set to last into the weekend.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen isn't scheduled to
attend, but investors will be listening closely to other policy
makers for hints of when the Fed might start raising interest
rates.
The recent market turmoil has prompted many investors and
strategists to push back their expectations of an increase.
In Europe, Germany is scheduled to publish provisional inflation
figures later Friday, while the European Commission will release
its latest economic sentiment indicator.
In currency markets, the euro rose 0.4% against the buck to
$1.1289 and the dollar was 0.2% lower against Japan's yen at ¥
120.80.
Write to Josie Cox at josie.cox@wsj.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 28, 2015 05:35 ET (09:35 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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