16th July 2021 Morning Report

Friday 16th July 2021

US markets closed mix, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.15% to end at 34,987.02, while the S&P 500 lost 0.33% to 4,360.03. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.7% to close at 14,543.13.

Worker shortages and bottlenecks in the supply chain have frustrated efforts by businesses to ramp up production to meet strong demand and concerns are mounting that this will just push inflation higher, which could lead to a sooner-than-expected tightening of monetary policy. Concern about inflation, tax rates and the midterm election are weighing on US investors.

Losses in Europe were broad-based, with economically sensitive stocks like banks, automakers, and travel down between 0.3% and 1.6%, as investor concerns increased about rising COVID-19 cases across Europe. European stocks were 1.2% off their all-time highs, on the back of a number of poor earnings reports and falling bond yields, added to the negative sentiment. The FTSE 100 dropped 1.1%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 1%. Siemens Energy dropped 11.1% after its wind power division was hit by higher-than-expected raw material and product ramp-up costs. Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP fell more than 2% expectations of more oil supplies.

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.02% to 3,564.59 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 0.85%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.15% lower while the Topix closed 1.2% lower.

Morning Report 16 July 2021

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