Morning Briefing: Markets mixed on regional issues

Markets mixed on regional issues
While oil prices and the likely Fed interest rate rise are still key concerns, the markets are focusing on regional issues Tuesday.

Asian markets closed mostly higher following Australia’s central bank’s decision to hold interest rates steady; and backing for South Korea from the US which will install an anti-missile system to protect it from its northern neighbour. Tokyo’s Nikkei was the main under-performer of the session.
European markets are mixed on data showing a hold-steady for Eurozone GDP and weakness in German factory orders. 

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open lower. Canadian international trade data is due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	20,954.34 (-0.24 per cent)	+4.30 per cent	+22.73 per cent
TSX Composite	15,629.75 (+0.14 per cent)	+0.84 per cent	+16.78 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,357.59 (+0.10 per cent)	+2.38 per cent	+19.01 per cent
German DAX	11,973.15 (+0.12 per cent)	+3.67 per cent	+22.45 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,453.96 (+0.22 per cent)	+2.62 per cent	+11.24 per cent
Japan Nikkei	19,344.15 (-0.18 per cent)	+2.29 per cent	+14.39 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
56.08 (+0.12 per cent)	53.29 (+0.17 per cent)	1223.20 (-0.19 per cent)	U$0.7458
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7586

OECD warning over global economy
Political uncertainties along with market volatility and financial vulnerabilities could derail global growth, the OECD warned Tuesday.

Although it forecasts a 3.5 per cent growth for the global economy and sentiment is up, the organization said that consumption, trade and investment remain weak.

With several new governments and forthcoming elections, there is also a growing trend of populations lacking trust in their political leaders which may affect governments’ abilities to drive growth programs.