European stocks faltered Tuesday as investors worried over Deutsche Bank’s outlook, a big decline in oil prices and a sharp downgrade in global trade predictions. The reaction in markets to the first U.S. presidential debate of this campaign was fairly minimal.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, France’s CAC-40 rose 0.6 percent to 4,381 while Germany’s DAX fell 0.9 percent to 10,305. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.3 percent lower at 6,796. Wall Street was poised for a fairly steady opening with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent.
DEBATE WATCH: Investors around the world kept a close watch on the debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Uncertainty over the election outcome is set to be one of the big risks facing stock markets. Though the general perception in markets was that Clinton was assured, it was unclear whether the event would dramatically change the trajectory of the race.
ANALYST TAKE: “With two more debates scheduled before the election date on 8th November, there are sure to be twists and turns to come and it seems last night was more a case of Clinton edging ahead on the judges’ scorecards, rather than landing a knockout blow,” said David Cheetham, market analyst at XTB.
DEUTSCHE FEARS: There was continuing unease in Europe over the health of Deutsche Bank after the German magazine Focus said Deutsche Bank said the bank won’t get a government bailout if it asks for one. Focus said the German government also won’t help Deutsche Bank by intervening with U.S. officials who want it to pay $14 billion to end an investigation into its sale of mortgage-backed securities. Deutsche shares were down a further 3 percent on Tuesday.
THE QUOTE: “There is a distinct probability the bank may well have to raise extra capital and, given current circumstances, who in their right minds would look to do that?” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
OIL SLIDES: Waning expectations of an oil supply freeze at a meeting in Algeria among OPEC countries weighed heavily on prices. The benchmark New York rate was down 1.9 percent at $45.04 a barrel while the international standard, Brent, fell 2.1 percent to $46.36 a barrel.
ASIA’S DAY: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.1 percent to 23,564.59 points and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 percent to 16,683.93. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 2,998.17 and Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.9 percent to 2,017.94. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.4 percent to 5,497.40.
CURRENCY: The euro was down 0.3 percent at $1.1219 while the dollar was flat at 100.36 yen.
