Russian stocks start the week lower, on a moderately negative international outlook. Investors will be looking at the US for drivers in the second half of the day, anticipating the release of manufacturing activity, a leading indicator of economic health.<\/p>\n
\n On Friday the Russian stock exchange ended the session lower with
\n the MICEX having lost 0.81 percent to close at 1350.17, while the
\n RTS slipped 1.41 percent to 1331.43.\n <\/p>\n
Europe also ended last week with a decline of major indicators.
\n The UK\u2019s FTSE100 dropped 1.11 percent to 6583.09, the DAX in
\n Germany slid 0.61 percent to 8348.32, while in France the CAC 40
\n retreated 1.19 percent to end at 3948.59.\n <\/p>\n
On Monday Spain, Italy and the UK will publish data on
\n manufacturing activity, while Switzerland is to publish its SVME
\n PMI.\n <\/p>\n
The US floors ended Friday sharply lower despite expectations of
\n an upward movement. Investors\u2019 sell-offs were related to due to
\n mixed economic reports. The Dow Jones industrial average slid
\n more than 200 points, while some 100 were lost in the last 15
\n minutes alone, marking the worst drop in six weeks.\n <\/p>\n
The Dow closed down 1.4 percent at 15,115.57. The S&P 500
\n ended 1.4 percent lower at 1,630.74. The NASDAQ Composite
\n declined 1 percent to close at 3,455.91.\n <\/p>\n
The Institute of Supply Management will release a closely-watched
\n report on manufacturing activity in the US Friday.\n <\/p>\n
Asia was mixed on Monday after contradictory data from China.
\n Over the weekend, China\u2019s National Bureau of Statistics said the
\n country\u2019s official PMI for May rose to 50.8 from 50.6 in April.
\n That topped the 50.1 reading economists expected. In this light
\n Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng added 0.36 percent in Monday\u2019s trade, while
\n the Shanghai Composite also advanced 0.10 percent.\n <\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 traded significantly lower, losing 2.17percent
\n after the International Monetary Fund warned Japan that the yen
\n is weak enough, as opposed to its earlier comments saying the
\n Japanese yen was overvalued.\n <\/p>\n
Statement from the European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi who
\n predicted a “very gradual recovery” to start in the eurozone
\n later this year also contributed to the confusion.\n <\/p>\n
Oil is currently trading slightly lower with Brent losing a mere
\n 0.05 percent and trading at $100, while WTI is 0.1 percent down
\n trading at $92.
\n <\/p>\n