Global Markets Factory growth lifts shares as Syria risk eases for now

Global Markets Factory growth lifts shares as Syria risk eases for now
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Monday, 02 September 2013 16:54

LONDON (Sept 2): A delay in potential U.S. military action in Syria and improving economic data from China and Europe boosted appetite for riskier assets on Monday, lifting world shares and sending the yen lower.

Oil prices also fell after U.S. President Barack Obama announced at the weekend that any military action against Syria in response to last month's chemical weapons attack would wait until lawmakers had had a chance to vote on the plan.

The delay pushed down oil by more than $1 a barrel, and gold by more than 1 percent, while the dollar rose to a one-month high against the safe-haven yen.

"Any risk of strikes from some Western countries on Syria have decreased at least near-term," Patrick Jacq, European rate strategist at BNP Paribas said. "The risk premium linked to geopolitical events has decreased, so risk appetite probably is resuming somewhat."

GLOBAL ECONOMY SHINES

With an imminent attack on Syria off the table for now, investors focused on the latest economic data, which showed China's factories posting their best performance for more than a year in August, easing fears of a sharp slowdown.

Euro zone factory activity rose at its fastest pace in over two years during August though the gains were still only modest and unemployment remained stubbornly high.

There was encouraging news from struggling euro zone member Spain, however, where manufacturing grew in August for the first time since April 2011.

Elsewhere, India notably bucked the trend with a Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) showing manufacturing activity in Asia's third-largest economy shrank in August for the first time in over four years, adding to the country's economic malaise.

"Just about the whole world seem seems to be surprising on the upside on PMIs except India," Mike Ingram, market commentator at BGC Partners, said.

SHARES RECOVER

MSCI's world equity index was up 0.5 percent after the data, ending a run of four consecutive weekly losses made as investors positioned for the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin reducing monetary stimulus, perhaps at its meeting later this month.

Earlier MSCI's broad index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan advanced 1 percent, hitting a two-week high and adding to a 2.1 percent gain over the previous two sessions. Tokyo's Nikkei rose 1.4 percent.

European shares reflected the brighter economic outlook. gaining 1.5 percent in early trading, with Britain's FTSE 100 up as much as 1.3 percent and Germany's DAX up 1.6 percent at one point.

A holiday in the U.S. and a week of major central bank meetings capped by the all-important U.S. payrolls report was likely to keep activity in check though.

Among the major currencies, the easing in Syrian tension reduced demand for the Japanese yen which is often sought for its safety in a time of crisis. This saw the dollar gain 1.2 percent to 99.38 yen, its highest level in a month.

The brighter economic news from China lifted the Australian dollar, which is seen as a proxy for Chinese growth because of the two countries' close trade ties. It rose 0.8 percent to $0.8970.

But the Indian rupee edged down 0.3 percent to 65.90 to the dollar after two days of gains, and was not far from a record low of 68.80 per dollar hit last week. Indonesia's rupiah , which has also been under pressure lately, was down 0.2 percent after the country logged a wider-than-expected trade deficit.

Buoyed by the factory activity data from top-consumer China, copper prices rose 2.2 percent and were on track to end a four-day losing run.

Oil and gold prices fell as investors unwound their positions because the U.S. has postponed a military strike against the Syrian government.

Brent crude prices dropped 0.5 percent to below $113.50 a barrel, on track for a third day of declines. It had touch a six-month peak of $117.34 last week on concerns that U.S. military intervention could lead to retaliation and disrupt crude supply in the Middle East region, which pumps a third of the world's oil.

Safe-haven gold dipped 0.25 percent to around $1,392 an ounce after falling as low as $1,379.44, a one-week trough, earlier in the session. - Reuters