US stock futures, euro skid after Paris attacks
US stock futures were sharply lower and the euro skidded in
early Asian trading on Monday in the wake of Friday's deadly
attacks in Paris, with stocks expected to take their cue from poor
investor appetite for risk after the assault and Wall Street's
steep losses, Reuters reported.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.8 percent, after shedding about 1
percent in light volume in late trading on Friday. News of the
attacks by gunmen and bombers that killed 132 people in the French
capital came after US markets closed for the day.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down
0.5 percent in early trade after losing 1.4 percent on Friday and
more than 3 percent for the week.
Australian shares shed 1.4 percent in early trade.
The euro dropped about 0.7 percent to $1.0706, after logging a flat
performance last week. It was down 0.8 percent against the yen at
130.90 yen.
The dollar slipped about 0.3 percent against the yen to 122.26.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of
six major rivals, added about 0.2 percent to 99.155.
French warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria on Sunday
as police launched an international hunt for a man they believe may
have helped organize the deadly wave of assaults.
"What might be affected from the Paris attacks could be a change in
spending from the consumer over the coming quarter and a possible
shift in confidence," Evan Lucas, market strategist at trading
platform provider IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note to clients on
Monday.
Nikkei futures <0#NIY:> were down 0.5 percent. The Nikkei
stock index shed 0.5 percent on Friday but still added 1.7 percent
for the week to mark its fourth consecutive week of gains. Japan's
third quarter gross domestic product figures will be released ahead
of the market open.
Before the assault, Wall Street had marked its worst week since
August, with major US indexes all shedding more than 1 percent
after a spate of mixed economic data.
Retail sales were weaker than expected and producer prices slipped
for the second straight month, but US consumer sentiment beat
forecasts and rose for the second straight month.
Taken as a whole, the data raised some concerns about the strength
of the US economy but was not worrying enough to significantly
reduce bets that the Federal Reserve will to raise interest rates
at its next meeting in December.
By contrast, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said last
week that the bank is ready to extend its easing steps to bolster
flagging prices. Data released on Friday subsequently showed that
euro-zone economic growth slowed unexpectedly in the third
quarter.
In one sign of stability for the euro zone, Greece and its euro
zone creditors reached an agreement on many issues in the reform
program that Athens is implementing in return for loans, the head
of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on
Sunday.
French financial markets will be open as usual on Monday, with
security measures taken for staff, stock and derivatives exchange
Euronext said a day after the attacks.
Markets in the Middle East, which trade on Sunday, were hit hard,
though part of that decline was due to a drop in oil prices.
Crude futures registered their biggest weekly loss in eight months,
losing 8 percent on the week for their worst performance since
March, as growing inventories stoked fears of oversupply.
Futures retraced some of the lost ground in early Asian trade.
Brent was up 0.5 percent at $44.68 a barrel after shedding 1
percent on Friday, while US crude was up about 0.6 percent at
$40.98 a barrel after giving up 2 percent.
Spot gold edged up about 0.3 percent to $1,086.71 an ounce, moving
away from its low on Thursday of $1,074.26, which was its deepest
nadir since February 2010.
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