Global stocks pointed lower early Monday as investors took a pause following last week’s rally and awaited the next catalysts.
After a week dominated by central bank decisions, coming days will see them remain in focus as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers two days of Congressional testimony and the Bank of England makes its latest interest-rate decision.
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market are closed on Monday in observance of Juneteenth, along with the U.S. bond market and over-the-counter markets. Trading will resume as normal Tuesday.
But for those markets open Monday, there wasn’t a lot of positivity around. Hong Kong’s
Hang Seng Index fell 1%, while Japan’s
Nikkei 225
also dropped 1% after reaching a 33-year high Friday.
The prospects of Chinese stimulus, amid a stalling Covid recovery, is a major near-term factor for Asian markets. China’s cabinet met Friday to discuss possible measures but the lack of details emerging from the meeting, according to state media reports, may have left investors disappointed.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.6% down shortly after the open, with the German
DAX
and French
CAC
both around 0.5% lower. The U.K.’s
FTSE 100
slipped 0.4%.
“Investors are lacking Monday motivation today as caution returns amid worries about global growth,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter said. “European indices have opened lower with the FTSE 100 on the backfoot as investors mull what’s ahead for the path of interest rates, given the stubbornness of inflation, while concerns persist about China’s recovery losing steam,” she added.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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