UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Paul J. Davies 

Investors had little to watch Wednesday ahead of a U.S. interest-rate decision later in the day, with many markets in Europe and Asia closed for the May Day holiday.

Export data from South Korea and house price data in the U.K. were both marginally ahead of expectations. But stock markets in Japan, China, Korea and across most of mainland Europe were all shut--and even when open, markets have recently shown very limited action.

With Danish and U.K. stocks trading, The Stoxx Europe 600 opened up 0.1%, with the FTSE 100 up 0.3%.

In the U.S., futures pointed to opening rises of 0.3% for both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

South Korean exports sunk for a fifth straight month in April, falling 2% versus the same month last year, according to preliminary data from the trade ministry, but the fall was less severe than in the preceding months, and better than the market forecast of a 5.6% fall.

"The improvement was broad-based across key sectors, and the improvement of auto and shipbuilding is notable," wrote Marie Kim and Jeeho Yoon at Citigroup. "However, exports of semiconductor continued to be weak reflecting lethargic recovery of the unit price."

In the U.K., house price growth was weak with April data lifting the annual rate to 0.9% from 0.7% recorded in March. That was better than the consensus forecast for no rise in the rate of growth.

But this anemic performance came despite increased risk taking by lenders. Mortgage rates have fallen for borrowers taking out very large loans, helpful for first-time buyers, and lenders are offering longer-term mortgages to make monthly repayment rates more affordable, according to Pantheon Macro Economics.

Government bond yields continued to edge up slightly ahead of the Federal Reserve rate decision later Wednesday, not that the central bank is expected to do anything other than signal continued patience.

Yields on 10-year Treasurys, which rise when prices fall, were at 2.505% from 2.501% Tuesday, after President Trump once more took to Twitter to complain that the Fed had "incessantly lifted rates, even though inflation is very low." The Fed last raised rates four months ago and in January signaled a U-turn on its policy of cutting its balance sheet and pushing through rate rises.

German 10-year bund yields returned to positive territory Tuesday and rose again to 0.012% Wednesday, while gilt yields in the U.K. were flat at 1.187%.

The dollar extended several days of relative weakness following last week's rally with the WSJ Dollar Index down 0.04%.

In commodities, Brent crude oil fell by 1% to $71.34 a barrel, while gold slipped 0.4% to $1.280.90 per ounce.

Write to Paul J. Davies at paul.davies@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2019 04:23 ET (08:23 GMT)

FTSE 100
Index Chart
Von Mär 2024 bis Apr 2024

FTSE 100
Index Chart
Von Apr 2023 bis Apr 2024