The bottom line is that China’s economy is slowing, but there are plenty of reasons to believe that the slowdown will be a managed and orderly one.
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Tokyo – Chinese stocks were down on New Year’s Eve, but the Shanghai market ended 2015 up almost 10 per cent.
Disappointing manufacturing data contributed to the weakness among Chinese stocks, as a report from Markit and Caixin showed that their index of Chinese manufacturing activity continued to indicate a contraction in December.
Dupont’s shares were down 1.5 percent at $62.10 in premarket trading after Citigroup cut its rating on the Dow component to “neutral”. The company’s shares are trading below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages by -0.28% and 14.26%, respectively. But analysts and investors say the circuit breaker could trigger more selling, as the freeze spooks investors and losses snowball, setting off the halt all over again.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region saw substantial weakness during trading on Monday.
CNNMoney’s Fear & Greed Index, which looks at seven measures of investor sentiment, dipped into “fear” territory on Monday.
Oil prices spiked on the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, but have since pared gains somewhat (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-pare-gains-after-jumping-on-iran-saudi-arabia-tensions-2016-01-04). The violence follows Saudi Arabia’s execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. That doesn’t bode well for the Middle East, a key oil producing region. Crude initially soared 3% and climbed back above $38 a barrel.
In a reversal of one of 2015’s major trends, oil shares moved higher, with the S&P energy sector up 0.34 per cent and alone among gainers. Gold jumped 1.4% to $1,075 an ounce thanks to the market scare and geopolitical concerns.
Toronto stocks are on track for the worst start to the year since 2001 as financial markets around the world tumbled after a selloff in China and weak manufacturing figures from the U.S.
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USA stocks have finished the year in the same direction as January 72% of the time, according to Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indexes.
