Global Stocks Tick Higher Despite Extended Brexit Uncertainty
October 21 2019 - 5:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Caitlin Ostroff
Global stocks edged higher Monday as investors awaited fresh
developments on the U.K.'s divorce from the European Union, trade
talks between China and the U.S., and signs of activity by major
central banks.
Futures linked to the S&P 500 index ticked up 0.2% ahead of
more corporate results this week. So far, third-quarter earnings
have beaten analysts' expectations, despite the slowing global
economy. Oil-field-services company Halliburton is set to report
later in the day.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.3%, led by banks and the
automotive sector.
The British pound wavered against the dollar after a critical
vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal was delayed. The
U.K.'s FTSE 100, which tracks companies with large overseas
earnings that benefit from sterling's decline, was flat. The yield
on the 10-year U.K. gilt rose to 0.774% from 0.711% Friday
afternoon. Yields rise when prices fall.
"We're going to have that kind of ebbing and flowing," said
David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets. "It's just going to be
hanging around to find out what's happening."
In European equity markets, shares in Prudential fell 9.1% as
the British financial-services company completed the spinoff of its
M&G business, leaving investors with stock in two separately
listed companies. U.K. medical-equipment company Smith & Nephew
fell 7.4% after its chief executive said he would step down at the
end of the month.
Wirecard rose 6.6% in German trading after the electronics
payment company said it commissioned an auditing firm to look into
allegations made in a report in the Financial Times about its
accounting practices.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 21, 2019 05:20 ET (09:20 GMT)
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