Market Buzz: Investors pin hopes on US growth figures
Russian stocks are likely to open higher Friday, as investors try to win back earlier losses and wait for data on US third-quarter economic growth due later in the day.
Russian stocks closed in the red Thursday, with a choppy trading session erasing early gains. The MICEX and the RTS both declined 0.4%.European markets closed mostly higher on Thursday, driven by news that the UK economy outperformed expectations and grew 1% in the third quarter. Stronger-than-expected results from Scandinavian banks and Unilever NV also boosted indices. The Stoxx Europe 600 added 0.3% and the German DAX 30 gained 0.1%, supported by a positive outlook from BASF. The CAC 40 bucked the trend and fell 0.4% on losses in France Telecom.US stocks rose modestly Thursday on better-than-expected earnings by Procter & Gamble, health insurer Aetna and security software publisher Symantec. The Dow Jones added 0.2% and the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%. Shares of Apple and Amazon fell after weak reports.Asian stocks fell on Friday, as Apple’s disappointing showing pushed down the tech sector overnight. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1%, erasing Thursday gains. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.6% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8% and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.6%.
