Stock markets in the U.S. slumped on a turbulent Thursday as falling tech giants dragged on the major indexes. Futures have been creeping up towards the end of the week but the overall trend on markets has been down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped over 400 points, or 1.5% in a fall back to 27,534, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2% in a fall below 11,000. The S&P 500 meanwhile lost a similar amount in a decline to 3350 points. A rally on Wednesday renewed hopes for investors but this was rapidly quashed the following day when all gains were wiped out. CNBC’s Jim Cramer said that September was typically a bad month for markets, adding;
Tech stock slump
Economic woes still hamper the U.S. and claims for unemployment benefits for the week were worse than expected with an unadjusted total of 884,000. Additionally, Senate Democrats blocked Republicans’ $500 billion stimulus proposal which further dampened investor confidence. Stock markets in Asia mirrored their American brethren with declines this week but some bourses in the region were mixed on Friday. The Shanghai composite declined marginally 0.21% while the Shenzhen component increased a tiny fraction. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.42% and Japanese stocks also saw small gains, while South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.65%.
Forex Update
In the world of forex, the greenback has been mixed against a basket of major currencies this week, losing ground in Europe but gaining in the UK. The European Central Bank announced its latest decision on monetary policy, which boosted the Euro and spurred dollar selling. However, Brexit trade talks continue to hamper GBP as Cable saw more declines this week. The GBP/USD pair collapsed to a seven-week low below 1.280. The JYP/USD pair remained relatively stable at 106 for the week.
