Global Markets Shares edge lower on policy doubts, Ifo eyed

Global Markets Shares edge lower on policy doubts, Ifo eyed
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Tuesday, 24 September 2013 15:58

24/09/13 15:54:20
LONDON (Sept 24): Anxiety over U.S. monetary and fiscal policy at the end of a bullish third quarter for stocks saw world shares edge lower on Tuesday while trapping the major currencies in tight ranges.

European shares, the euro and major government bonds were all broadly stable as traders focused on the Ifo think tank's latest reading on German business morale, due out later, expected to add to a picture of recovery in the region's biggest economy.

"The Ifo will be the most important item today, we see risks for a weaker-than-expected outcome as we are already at very high levels for the Ifo," Mathias Van der Jeugt, a strategist at KBC Bank.

Ahead of the Ifo data the euro traded little changed at around $1.35. German Bund futures were 2 ticks higher at 138.80 but were stuck in a tight 19-tick range. Ten-year German yields were flat at 1.86 percent.

The MSCI global index of shares dipped 0.1 percent.

The euro slipped 0.2 percent on Monday after European Central Bank resident Mario Draghi said he remained ready to inject more liquidity into banking markets to support the economy.

Draghi's remarks came as surveys of purchasing managers showed activity in the euro zone grew faster than expected this month thanks to stronger new orders.

Markets remain dominated, however, by doubt over the outlook for U.S. Federal Reserve policy after its surprise decision last week to maintain its asset buying programme at $85 billion.

That left investors both encouraged that that scale of support for the economy would continue for a while longer but also in some doubt over whether they had overestimated the solidity of the U.S. economic recovery.

Earlier, taking their cue from a softer Wall Street, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.6 percent. Shanghai shed 0.8 percent, and Seoul 0.2 percent.

Returning from holiday, Tokyo's Nikkei slipped 0.1 percent. One bright spot was stocks in iPhone suppliers, burnished by news Apple Inc had sold 9 million new iPhones during their first three days in stores.

U.S. stock futures also pointed to further weakness on Wall Street later in the day where traders are also increasingly wary about U.S. fiscal policy amid a political showdown in Washington that could see the government shut down, or at the very extreme, default on its debt..

In commodities markets, gold steadied at $1,327.50 an ounce after failing to sustain its Fed-inspired rally to $1,374 last week. The story was much the same in copper futures which held at $7,227.51, from last week's peak of $7,368.00.

Brent crude oil was down a single cent at $108.15 a barrel, while U.S. crude eased 3 cents to $103.56. - Reuters