Following the Easter break, some of the market resumed as stocks in the Europe posted a higher weekly gain while stocks in the Asian region were mostly mixed, with stocks in China falling.
In China, stocks were seen falling as the benchmark index dropped to its lowest in five weeks, on worries new shares sales could draw funds from existing equities. In Asia, most of the markets across the region are closed for a holiday.
Meanwhile in Russia, stocks were seen climbing the most in over three weeks after the country held talks with representatives from Ukraine, the US and the European Union finalizing an agreement to ease tensions.
In Europe, France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.5% higher, while the German DAX index gained 1% at the time of writing. At the same time the Europe Stoxx 600 Index rose 1.1% to 332.43, while the UK benchmark FTSE 100 advanced 1%.
The benchmark Nikkei closed flat at 14,512.38, after rising to 14,649.50 on April 8. While Tokyo’s Topix index edged 0.2% lower to 1,171.40, with trading volume 27% lower than average in the last 100 sessions. The new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 fell 0.2% lower to 10,655.42.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index edged 0.1% lower to 139.03 at the time of writing, while the yen weakened further against the greenback after Japan reported its trade deficit widened more than estimated last month.
In China, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.5% to 2,065.83, the most since March 10. The gauge slid by 1.5% last week following the release of a data that showed that the country’s economy growth slowed down to it’s weakest in six quarters.
“Investors are still mainly concerned about the resumption of IPOs,” said Zhou Lin, an analyst at Huatai Securities Co. in Nanjing. “There are worries about tighter liquidity from the IPOs and that the pace of approvals will be faster than expected. Stocks are likely to fall for the rest of the month.”
At close of trading the main World Stock Markets were as follows:
FTSE 100 6,625.11
Dow Jones I.A 16,408.54
Nasdaq Composite Index 4,095.52
Nikkei225 14,512.38
Hang Seng 22,760.24
CAC 40 4,431.81
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