In mid-morning trading the FTSE 100 is down 30 points, at 6527, as the protests in Hong Kong hangover the markets.
Traders in London are still focused on the Far East. It may be a National Day in China but investors are still concerned about the protests in Hong Kong. British banks, such as Standard Chartered and HSBC, have previously benefited from their exposure to the second largest economy in the world, but now they are paying the price for it. While pro-democracy protestors occupy Hong Kong, traders will continue to dump Asian-exposed stocks. Mineral extractors, to as lesser extent, are being hurt by the unrest in Hong Kong. China still has questions hanging over it in relation to growth and credit markets, and the protests just compound the issue. Domino’s Pizza delivered robust results. Its like-for-like sales in the UK division climbed nearly 13% in the third quarter, while the Irish and the Swiss operations also performed well. The talk of the town is the ECB rate decision and the press conference later today. Dealers are waiting for the details of Mario Draghi’s ABS scheme or ‘I can’t believe it's not QE’ programme.
In the US, we are expecting the Dow to open 20 points lower at 16,784, as the first reported case of Ebola in the US has added to the fear factor.
Traders in London are still focused on the Far East. It may be a National Day in China but investors are still concerned about the protests in Hong Kong. British banks, such as Standard Chartered and HSBC, have previously benefited from their exposure to the second largest economy in the world, but now they are paying the price for it. While pro-democracy protestors occupy Hong Kong, traders will continue to dump Asian-exposed stocks. Mineral extractors, to as lesser extent, are being hurt by the unrest in Hong Kong. China still has questions hanging over it in relation to growth and credit markets, and the protests just compound the issue. Domino’s Pizza delivered robust results. Its like-for-like sales in the UK division climbed nearly 13% in the third quarter, while the Irish and the Swiss operations also performed well. The talk of the town is the ECB rate decision and the press conference later today. Dealers are waiting for the details of Mario Draghi’s ABS scheme or ‘I can’t believe it's not QE’ programme.
In the US, we are expecting the Dow to open 20 points lower at 16,784, as the first reported case of Ebola in the US has added to the fear factor.
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