Global stock markets retreated on Tuesday as US-China tensions continue growing while surging COVID-19 cases in the US prompted some states to reimpose some restrictions. These events put weight on investors’ confidence as earnings season gets underway.
MSCI’s All-Country World Index slipped 0.4% from a 20-week high posted on Monday/ The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.5% in the early trading day, dragged by a 3.4% drop in technology stocks and on track to hit its worst in 14 sessions.
The EURO STOXX 50 and FTSE futures declined by 1.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Meanwhile S&P 500 futures firmed 0.5% after losing 0.9% a day earlier. Nasdaq lost 2% on Monday, with shares of Tesla decreasing by 3%, ending a rally that boosted its stock by over 40% in two weeks.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares, excluding Japan, dropped 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.9% on Tuesday from a one-month high recorded a day earlier. Meanwhile, better-than-expected trade numbers could not prevent China’s Shanghai index from falling by 0.7%.
In the currency market, the dollar index edged up 0.1% at 96.662. The kiwi and Aussie were stalling its grind higher at $0.6535 and $0.6945, respectively. Meanwhile, the euro lost 0.1% against the greenback to $1.1331 as investors awaited German sentiment data.
