Europe and Asia dragged world equity markets lower on Monday as concerns about slower growth in China prompted investors to cut their risks.
The dollar slipped against major currencies as expectations that the Federal Reserve is in no rush to tighten policy kept the benchmark 10-year bond yield near last month’s six-month low.
Shanghai shares hit a three-week low as Beijing announced regulations that tighten its grip on interbank lending and aim to defuse risks among “shadow” non-bank financial firms that act like banks. Fresh data also added to evidence of a cooling property market [ID:nL3N0O401K].
“Markets think any weakness (in the Chinese economy) from here will be met with a policy response from the authorities,” said Manik Narain, strategist at UBS. “But there is room for China to disappoint.”
The benchmark MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS fell 0.1 percent while European shares .FTEU3 lost 0.6 percent.
Stocks outperformed
Emerging stocks .MSCIEF outperformed their developed counterpart by rising 0.3 percent, approaching last week’s 6-1/2 month high. Wall Street was heading for a weaker open with S&P futures down 0.3 percent.
The dollar fell 0.1 percent .DXY against a basket of major currencies while the euro ticked higher. The dollar fell to a 3-1/2 month low of 101.07 yen.
NO STRAIGHT LINE
European equity markets were dragged lower by British pharma group AstraZeneca (AZN.L), whose shares fell more than 13 percent after it rejected a sweetened “final” offer from Pfizer (PFE.N).
[…] Europe and Asia dragged world equity markets lower on Monday as concerns about slower growth in China prompted investors to cut their risks. The dollar slipped against major currencies as expectations that the Federal Reserve is in no rush to tighten policy kept the benchmark 10-year bond yield near last month’s six-month low. Shanghai sha… Europe in One » News […]