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20 May 2019 Global Stocks Mixed to Lower; Chinese Criticism of US Heats

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20 May 2019 Global Stocks Mixed to Lower; Chinese Criticism of US Heats 20 May 2019 Global stocks mixed to lower; Chinese criticism of US heats up Japanese shares higher on sharp gains for Sony US markets Chinese officials went out of their way all week to downplay the outlook for compromise or even the possibility that trade talks will resume. Yet the US stock market remained largely upbeat with the Dow slipping 0.4 percent on Friday for a limited weekly decline of 0.7 percent and a still substantial year-to-date gain of 10.4 percent. Stocks ended off their lows on Friday after the US and Canada announced a bilateral trade deal that will suspend tariffs on aluminum and steel and which have raised expectations that Mexico will soon join the agreement. On US-China trade, China's Ministry of Commerce described US trade tactics as "bullying behavior" while The People's Daily ran front page commentary saying China will withstand a trade war. In company news, media site Pinterest fell sharply on earnings as did machinery maker Deere which cited concerns over lower Chinese soybean demand tied to the outbreak of swine fever. Chip-equipment maker Applied Materials rose sharply on earnings while automaker Tesla fell sharply on reports of cost-cutting plans. A curious 3 tenths jump in year-ahead inflation expectations headlined Friday's economic data in the US, a burst higher that is likely tied to US-China tariff increases. The jump contrasts with the week's run of flat US data, especially retail sales and industrial production, and may raise talk of tariff-induced stagflation in the months to come. These data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET. Dated Brent spot crude was down US$0.52 to $72.21 while gold was US$9.40 lower at $1,277.40. The US dollar rose against the yuan, the Australian dollar, the pound, the yen, the euro, the Swiss franc and was little changed against the Canadian dollar. The yield on the US Treasury 30-year bond was down 1 basis point to 2.83 percent while the yield on the 10-year note was also down 1 basis point to 2.39 percent. European markets European shares ended a positive week with mostly slight declines on Friday. France's CAC rose 2.1 percent in the week with the FTSE up 2.0 percent and the DAX up 1.5 percent. Year-to-date, the DAX is 15.9 percent higher with the CAC up 15.0 percent and the FTSE up 9.2 percent. In the UK, the Labour Party broke off compromise talks on Brexit with Prime Minister's Theresa May's government in news that sent the pound lower. Friday's economic news was light but did include April's final for Eurozone harmonised inflation which was unrevised at a 0.7 percent monthly increase for a 1.4 percent yearly rate. The rebound more than reversed a probable Easter-related 0.2 percentage point decline in March and made for the strongest reading since last November. Among shares, auto-related shares extended recent declines including French parts supplier Valeo. UK discount carrier EasyJet jumped after affirming earnings expectations. Asia Pacific Markets Asian shares were mixed Friday, with Chinese markets off sharply on the latest escalation in the US-China trade dispute. Japanese equities rose, led by tech shares, as Sony rallied on buyback news, and Australian markets remained buoyant on rising commodities prices and the weakening Australian dollar. Chinese markets suffered more fallout from US sanctions on Huawei and ZTE, and from harsher rhetoric from China on the trade dispute. The Shanghai composite dropped 2.5 percent, and was off 1.9 percent for the week. The Hang Seng index fell 1.2 percent as it tracked the Shanghai lower, with technology and property shares leading the declines. Singapore's Straits Times index fell 0.8 percent, with financials leading the downturn. Tech shares were the story in Tokyo as the Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 percent. Sony rallied by 10 percent on a share buyback, and other tech shares tracked Cisco higher after upbeat earnings. Tokyo shares retreated from highs late in the day on the selloff in Chinese stocks. The Nikkei was down 0.4 percent for the week. Australia's All Ordinaries rose 0.7 percent Friday as mining and energy shares continued their run higher, though the market gave up much of its gains at the close on China worries. Ongoing weakness in the Australian dollar has given the commodities-export market a lift, along with expectations for a rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia as soon as next month. In economic news, Singapore's non-oil domestic exports fell 10.0 percent on the year in April, improving modestly from a drop of 11.8 percent in March. Total imports rose 7.5 percent on the year after advancing 1.5 percent previously. Japan's index of tertiary industry activity fell 0.4 percent in March after falling 0.6 percent on the month in February. Declines in the component index for six of the 11 main industry groups within the services sector outweighed increases in the remaining five. Looking forward Central Bank activities 21-May Australia RBA Minutes (April) 22-May US FOMC Minutes (May) 23-May EZ ECB Minutes (May) The following indicators will be released this week... Europe PPI 20-May Germany (April) 21-May EZ EC Consumer Confidence (May) CPI 22-May UK (April) 23-May EZ PMI Composite Flash (May) France PMI Composite Flash (May) GDP Germany (Q1) PMI Composite Flash (May) Ifo Survey (May) UK Retail Sales (April) Asia Pacific 20-May Japan GDP (Q1a) 22-May Japan Machine Orders (March) 23-May Japan PMI Manufacturing Flash (May) CPI 24-May Japan (April) NZ Merchandise Trade (April) Americas 21-May US Existing Home Sales (April) 22-May Canada Retail Sales (March) 23-May US New Home Sales (April) 24-May US Durable Goods Orders (April) Global Stock Markets End 2019 Daily Percent Change Index 2018 May 16 May 17 Change Daily 2019 Yr/Yr North America United States Dow 23327.46 25862.68 25764 -98.68 -0.4 10.4 4.2 NASDAQ 6635.28 7898.05 7816.28 -81.77 -1.0 17.8 6.3 S&P 500 2506.85 2876.32 2859.53 -16.79 -0.6 14.1 5.4 Canada S&P/TSX Comp 14322.86 16443.86 16401.75 -42.11 -0.3 14.5 1.5 Europe UK FTSE 100 6728.13 7353.51 7348.62 -4.89 -0.1 9.2 -5.5 France CAC 4730.69 5448.11 5438.23 -9.88 -0.2 15.0 -3.1 Germany XETRA DAX 10558.96 12310.37 12238.94 -71.43 -0.6 15.9 -6.4 Italy MIB 18324.03 21151.8 21105.28 -46.52 -0.2 15.2 -10.0 Spain Ibex 35 8539.90 9304.3 9280.1 -24.20 -0.3 8.7 -8.2 Sweden OMX Stockholm 30 1408.74 1615.38 1606.86 -8.52 -0.5 14.1 -0.7 Switzerland SMI 8429.30 9660.59 9659.08 -1.51 0.0 14.6 8.0 Asia/Pacific Australia All Ordinaries 5709.44 6417.49 6460.21 42.72 0.7 13.1 4.4 Japan Nikkei 225 20014.77 21062.98 21250.09 187.11 0.9 6.2 -7.3 Topix 1494.09 1537.55 1554.25 16.70 1.1 4.0 -14.4 Hong Kong Hang Seng 25845.70 28275.07 27946.46 -328.61 -1.2 8.1 -10.0 S. Korea Kospi 2041.04 2067.69 2055.8 -11.89 -0.6 0.7 -16.5 Singapore STI 3068.76 3230.26 3205.46 -24.80 -0.8 4.5 -9.2 China Shanghai Comp 2493.90 2955.71 2882.3 -73.41 -2.5 15.6 -9.7 Taiwan TAIEX 9727.41 10474.61 10384.11 -90.50 -0.9 6.8 -4.1 India Sensex 30 36068.33 37393.48 37930.77 537.29 1.4 5.2 8.8 *Markets closed Data Source — Haver Analytics Bond markets 10-Yr Govt Bonds Closing Yield Change Yield (bp) US 2.39% -1 UK 1.03% -4 Germany -0.11% -1 Japan -0.07% 0 Australia 1.64% 0 Source — Bloomberg Currencies and commodities Currency 16-May 17-May Change (%) Japanese yen 109.82 110.08 -0.2% Australian dollar 0.6892 0.6868 -0.3% Yuan 6.8837 6.9179 -0.5% Euro 1.1174 1.1158 -0.1% British pound 1.2793 1.2724 -0.5% Swiss franc 1.0101 1.0110 -0.1% Canadian dollar 0.7428 0.7429 0.0% Source — Bloomberg Commodities 17-May Change Brent Spot $72.21 -0.7% Gold $1,277.40 ($9.40) Thompson-Reuters/ Jeffreys Commodity index 180.99 -0.73% Source — Bloomberg Important Information The content of this material is intended to be viewed for informational purposes only and cannot be construed as an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment fund or product of Fidelity, or an offer or solicitation to engage the investment management services of Fidelity. This material may not be circulated or reproduced without the written consent of Fidelity. The information contained in this material is only accurate on the date such information is published on this material. Opinions or forecasts contained herein are subject to change without prior notice. Past performance and any forecasts on the economy, stock market, bond market or the economic trends of the markets are not necessarily indicative of the future performance.
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