With U.S. retail sales and jobs data due Updates prices throughout, add comment LONDON, Sept 16 Reuters - Global markets struggled on Thursday to gain momentum and U.S. stock futures pointed to a slightly lower open for Wall Street weighed by concerns about a possible slowdown in the economic recovery COVID - 19.
Asian equities gained, bucking the trend from a weak European session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped to its lowest level so far this year, and Chinese shares sank as investors dumped property and consumer stocks over fears that the liquidity crisis at China's Evergrande Group could affect the broader economy.
The group's main unit, Hengda Real Estate Group Co Ltd, applied to suspend trading of its onshore corporate bonds following a downgrade.
As of 1114 GMT, the MSCI world equity index was down by around 0.1%. It has fallen by around 1.7% since it reached an all-time high on Sept. 7 after it hit a high in the system for real customers.
Forecasts - Data from China with weak data in China on Wednesday reinforced investor bets that global growth will be adversely affected due to COVID - 19 and supply chain constraints.
But Europe's stock market was higher on the day, adding 0.8% to the previous day and gaining 0.2% so far this week.
The Nasdaq 500 E-minis were down 0.1%, while the S&P 500 E-minis were down 0.2%.
Focus is now on U.S. unemployment data on weekly jobless claims and August retail sales, both due at 8: 30am ET 1230 GMT Retail sales figures are expected to have fallen in August, Saxo Bank s chief investment officer Steen Jakobsen wrote in a note to clients.
Although the drop is largely indivisible in the market, it could still support US Treasuries pushing yields down by a couple of basis points. Yet, we expect yields to remain rangebound between 1.25% and 1.35% through next week's FOMC Meeting. Markets are waiting for the Federal Reserve meeting next week for clues as to when the U.S. central bank will start tapering stimulus.
Investors are also closely watching inflation data. The global picture is mixed: U.S. data on Tuesday showed inflation cooling and having possibly peaked, but inflation in Britain was the highest in years, according to data on Wednesday.
The overall market is sideways to lower, but with a risk-on trend underneath and that's down to signs the Delta variant may be peaking in the U.S. which is driving people into reflation and recovery plays, said Kiran Ganesh, head of cross asset management at UBS Global Wealth Management.
At the same time there are concerns about fiscal consolidation and worries about China moving to lockdowns. Major banks have told clients to reduce their exposure to stocks, with many market participants expecting the equity bull run to end.
UBS CEO Ganesh said that regulatory risk is not over for Chinese stocks.
We'll need 3 - 4 months of quiet before people can start moving back to buy Chinese stocks Big tech companies more exposed to social issues whether property or education - are subject to regulatory risks. The U.S. dollar rose, with the currency index gaining 0.3% in the day to 92.746.
The euro was down 0.4% to $1.17705, with the index trending toward its lowest level in the past six months.
Australian Dollar - which is seen as a liquid proxy for risk appetite - was 0.2% weaker at $0.7318 -
Data for jobs showed that Australian employment dipped in August as cordonavirus lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne forced businesses to lay off workers and slash hours.
The 10-year Treasury yield was a touch higher at 1.3141%, while core Euro zone government bond yields were relatively unchanged.