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The Breakfast Briefing: Stocks Open 2019 With A Tumble Over Weak Chinese Data
FYI: Global markets logged a weak start to the new year, with indexes in Europe and Asia dropping on the first trading day of 2019.
The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 1.7% on Wednesday shortly after the open. France’s CAC 40 lost 2.6% and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 1.9%.
The downbeat mood across markets followed a turbulent holiday period, when U.S. indexes seesawed over the Christmas week.
The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was broadly flat. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield ticked down to 2.670%, from 2.684% at the close of 2018. Yields move inversely to prices.
In Asia, weak economic data sent markets lower. The China Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 49.7 in December, according to data released Wednesday. That is the first time the sector has been in contraction territory—below 50—since May 2017.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led declines, falling 2.4% midday. The Shanghai Composite Index was off by 1.1% and Australia’s S&P/ASX was down 1.5%. Japanese stocks were closed for a public holiday. Regards, Ted
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