Morning Briefing: Markets mixed after OPEC

Markets mixed after OPEC

The decision of OPEC to extend its oil production cut but not to increase the level of those cuts has disappointed markets which were hoping for a deeper reduction in production.

Oil prices have stabilized overnight but the previous session’s 5 per cent slump is weighing on equity markets so far Friday.

Asian indexes closed mixed with recent weak data from China providing a softer narrative for the region. Shanghai and Hong Kong were flat while there were losses for Sydney and Tokyo. Seoul outperformed its peers.

European indexes are also mixed with London the best performer as thoughts return to the election in less than two weeks.
Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open lower. The G7 conference begins and US GDP data are due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,082.95 (+0.34 per cent)	+0.51 per cent	+18.26 per cent
TSX Composite	15,410.73 (-0.06 per cent)	-1.53 per cent	+9.69 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,531.48 (+0.18 per cent)	+3.33 per cent	+20.20 per cent
German DAX	12,577.44 (-0.35 per cent)	+0.84 per cent	+22.44 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,480.43 (-0.15 per cent)	+1.02 per cent	+13.58 per cent
Japan Nikkei	19,686.84 (-0.64 per cent)	+2.06 per cent	+17.38 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
51.73 (+0.52 per cent)	49.12 (+0.45 per cent)	1265.50 (+0.72 per cent)	U$0.7429
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7443

China’s debts must be tackled says Moody’s

Moody’s ratings agency says that unless China sorts out its huge debts it faces a further credit rating downgrade.

Even Beijing’s structural reforms are not expected to stop the spiralling debt in China but may slow the pace, Moody’s says, acknowledging that the measures being taken by leaders are encouraging.

"If in the future China's structural reforms can prevent its leverage from rising more effectively without increasing risks in the banking and shadow banking sector, then it will have a positive impact on China's rating," Moody’s Li Xiujun told reporters.