By James Langton
(October 1 – 09:00 ET) – Stock markets begin their blackest month expecting a lighter open this morning. European markets are mixed this morning. Japan was up overnight. But S&P futures are pointing down in pre-market trading.
Traders in Europe are preoccupied with their own interest rate concerns this morning after some inflation warnings from the European Central Bank’s chief economist. In London the FTSE 100 is up almost 10 points. But the German DAX is down about 45 points and the French CAC 40 has dropped about 40 points of its own. Wim Duisenberg, head of the European Central Bank, is speaking in New York this morning, which could either allay or spark those inflation fears.
There are no major economic releases out of Statistics Canada this morning. In the U.S., the slide in stock futures deepened after some higher than expected numbers on personal spending were released by the U.S. Commerce Department. This just focused traders fears on the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, which meets next week, Oct. 5, for its next rate decision. Although traders are not expecting another rate hike, there is a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s next move.
Some traders fear that the Fed will leave rates alone but return to its tightening bias, setting off another month and a half of interest rate uncertainty. Many traders are expecting a rate hike at one of the next two meetings.
Overnight, Hong Kong was closed, but Japan traded up. The Nikkei finished its trading day up 107 points. Despite the country’s worst-ever nuclear accident yesterday, Tokyo traders are apparently optimistic ahead of the Tankan survey, which is due out on Monday. The report is expected to reveal stronger corporate confidence in Japan, fuelling recovery optimism.
In business news, Matthew Barrett starts his term at the helm of Barclay’s Bank
today.
The board of Kelman Technologies Inc. is recommending that shareholders
reject takeover bid for the firm from ReQuest Seismic Surveys Ltd.