Oil steadies, Chinese stocks plunge 6 per cent... Citi warns of global recession... Record high number of billionaires...
Oil steadies, Chinese stocks plunge 6 per cent
Oil has steadied overnight following losses in the previous session, giving some comfort to fragile markets.
Asian equities gained with all major markets closing higher except for Shanghai. Tightening liquidity in China saw stocks tumble and the composite index closed down more than 6 per cent.
European markets are showing confidence with London and Paris leading the pack. Even a lower-than-expected reading of inflation data (0.3 per cent) has not pushed stocks into negative territory.
Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher.
Citi warns of global recession
Analysts at Citigroup say that the risk of a global recession are increasing. In a client note they say that 2015’s fourth quarter growth was “unusually weak” and the bank warns that "We are currently in a highly precarious environment for global growth and asset markets after two to three years of relative calm.” Citi’s definition of a recession (growth below 2 per cent) is rather different from the generally-accepted two quarters of negative growth.
Record high number of billionaires
There were 2,188 billionaires in the world in 2015 according to the Hurun Global Rich List. There were 99 new additions to the list last year and the data shows that China dominates with 568, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. The US had 535 last year. The world’s super-rich had net worth of U$7.3 trillion as of Jan 15 2016, up 9 per cent year-over-year.
Oil has steadied overnight following losses in the previous session, giving some comfort to fragile markets.
Asian equities gained with all major markets closing higher except for Shanghai. Tightening liquidity in China saw stocks tumble and the composite index closed down more than 6 per cent.
European markets are showing confidence with London and Paris leading the pack. Even a lower-than-expected reading of inflation data (0.3 per cent) has not pushed stocks into negative territory.
Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher.
| Latest | 1 month ago | 1 year ago | |
| North America (previous session) |
|||
| US Dow Jones | 16,484.99 (+0.32 per cent) | +3.78 per cent | -9.55 per cent |
| TSX Composite | 12,740.27 (-0.18 per cent) | +4.92 per cent | -16.34 per cent |
| Europe (at 5.30am ET) |
|||
| UK FTSE | 5,977.20 (+1.88 per cent) | +1.70 per cent | -13.82 per cent |
| German DAX | 9,241.00 (+0.80 per cent) | -5.09 per cent | -17.57 per cent |
| Asia (at close) |
|||
| China CSI 300 | 2,918.75 (-6.14 per cent) | -6.72 per cent | -16.10 per cent |
| Japan Nikkei | 16,140.34 (+1.41 per cent) | -5.67 per cent | -13.15 per cent |
| Other Data (at 6.30am ET) |
|||
| Oil (Brent) | Oil (WTI) | Gold | Can. Dollar |
| 34.16 (-0.76 per cent) |
31.94 (-0.65 per cent) |
1235.80 (+0.27 per cent) |
U$0.7301 |
| Aus. Dollar |
|||
| U$0.7177 | |||
Citi warns of global recession
Analysts at Citigroup say that the risk of a global recession are increasing. In a client note they say that 2015’s fourth quarter growth was “unusually weak” and the bank warns that "We are currently in a highly precarious environment for global growth and asset markets after two to three years of relative calm.” Citi’s definition of a recession (growth below 2 per cent) is rather different from the generally-accepted two quarters of negative growth.
Record high number of billionaires
There were 2,188 billionaires in the world in 2015 according to the Hurun Global Rich List. There were 99 new additions to the list last year and the data shows that China dominates with 568, including Hong Kong and Taiwan. The US had 535 last year. The world’s super-rich had net worth of U$7.3 trillion as of Jan 15 2016, up 9 per cent year-over-year.
