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Economic news out of the eurozone is not good. ©AFP/File CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

Global stock markets fell on Tuesday as investors locked in profits from a strong recent run, with analysts saying that equity valuations had started to look too optimistic, prompting a reality check.

Dire corporate and economic news in the eurozone sparked selling in Europe, and Wall Street joined in as investors nervously awaited the outcome of a US central bank meeting.

A two-day Federal reserve meeting is the first since the US economy began to meaningfully reopen from the coronavirus shutdowns that froze much activity in March, April and part of May. The gathering also comes after Friday’s surprisingly good jobs report. 

The US market pullback came a day after the Nasdaq ended at a record high and the S&P 500 wiped out all its losses for the year so far.

There was now a “disconnect between the record-breaking stock market rally and stretched valuations”, OANDA analyst Edward Moya told AFP.

In Europe, a big French government package for the country’s aviation industry meanwhile did little for the affected companies’ share prices, said analyst Neil Wilson at trading site Markets.com.

“Some big names in France — Airbus, Safran, Thales, and Dassault — turned sharply lower even as the French finance minister unveiled a 15-billion-euro support plan for the aerospace industry,” he said.

In economic news, the Bank of France predicted the French economy would shrink by about 10 percent this year on the fallout from COVID-19.

In Europe’s biggest economy Germany, exports tumbled 24 percent month-on-month in April to 75.7 billion euros ($85.5 billion), official data showed.

Tuesday’s round of heavy European losses came after Tokyo ended a six-day winning streak.

Nevertheless, Asian equities mostly rose as long-running optimism over the re-opening of economies eclipsed early profit-taking.

Seoul rose 0.2 percent despite geopolitical concerns re-emerging after North Korea said it was severing all communication links with the South.

Oil prices retreated further on scepticism over a weekend deal to extend output cuts from key crude producing nations.

– Key figures around 1540 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 2.1 percent at 6,335.72 points (close)

Frankfurt – DAX 30: DOWN 1.6 percent at 12,617.99 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.6 percent at 5,095.11 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.4 percent at 3,320.71

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 27,325.73

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 23,091.03 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 1.1 percent at 25,057.22 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 2,956.11 (close)

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $38.12 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $40.66

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1356 from $1.1294 at 2100 GMT

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 107.74 yen from 108.43 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2733 from $1.2724 

Euro/pound: UP at 89.19 pence from 88.77 pence

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(AFP)

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.