American markets
look flat today
With the most successful index being the Dow Jones (+0.04%). Energy and mining stocks have been some of the weakest across the globe thanks to new data from China which prompted fears about a slowdown in the Chinese economy (read on).
European markets are lower for the second day in a row this week weighed down by mining stocks in particular. One of the hottest stocks on European indices was clothing retailer Next - up by 12.30% on the FTSE100! The firm posted a decline in profits and sales for the first half of the year, but raised its full year guidance as it's reining in costs amidst higher inflation. Elsewhere in the U.K. the Pound skyrocketed against the Dollar and Euro, after the Bank of England signalled that it might raise interest rates sooner than the market expected, though they kept them on hold for the time being. Expect British financial stocks to rise too if they follow through on this.
Asian markets were hit with fresh losses this morning, thanks to weaker-than-expected factory output and retail sales data from China, which also dragged down base metal prices and the stocks associated with them. It was a sea of red among Asian indices aside from the NIFTY50, which is still held firm above the 10,000 points mark