Morning Briefing: Markets mostly higher despite tech decline

Markets mostly higher despite tech decline

The tech sector fell again on Wall Street during Monday and there were mixed fortunes for the sector in early trade in Asian and European markets Tuesday.

The sector is under pressure as investors switch to other sectors which were seen as risky 6 months ago but are now performing better. The drop in value of Snap Inc. following the huge IPO is also a factor.

Asian markets closed mostly higher Tuesday although markets remain cautious ahead of meetings from the Fed, BoE and BoJ this week.

European markets are also trending higher, although politics remains in focus with Brexit talks and the fragile nature of the new UK government causing concern. Several UK data releases painted a mixed picture of the economy. Business confidence is higher in the Eurozone this month but down in Germany.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,235.67 (-0.17 per cent)	+1.62 per cent	+19.76 per cent
TSX Composite	15,383.80 (-0.58 per cent)	-0.99 per cent	+9.93 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,525.93 (+0.19 per cent)	+1.22 per cent	+24.50 per cent
German DAX	12,758.68 (+0.54 per cent)	-0.09 per cent	+32.11 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,582.27 (+0.22 per cent)	+5.82 per cent	+16.83 per cent
Japan Nikkei	19,898.75 (-0.05 per cent)	+0.07 per cent	+24.22 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
48.52 (+0.48 per cent)	46.26 (+0.39 per cent)	1264.39 (-0.39 per cent)	U$0.7542
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7545

Fed expected to increase rates this week

The markets are expecting the Federal Reserve to increase interest rates when it meets this week.

The FOMC meeting is also expected to reveal more details of the Fed’s stated aim to reduce its balance sheet which stands at more than $4 billion and analysts are becoming impatient.

"If the Fed is serious about reducing the size of its balance sheet this year and wishes to communicate those plans well in advance, it is running out of time to do so," said Michael Pearce, an economist with Capital Economics told Reuters.