Morning Market Movers: Global Markets Still Responding to Friday’s House GOP News
Here’s what’s shaking:
Stocks:
U.S. stock and bond markets are closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, but world markets are still responding positively to news that Congress has agreed to a three-month debt limit increase.
Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent to 6,165.52, while Germany’s DAX advanced 0.4 percent to 7,730.73. France’s CAC-40 gained 0.3 percent to 3,750.76.
Earlier in Asia, markets were more cautious, with Japanese shares hit hard by a rise in the yen. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.5 percent to close at 10,747.74.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.1 percent to 1,986.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1 percent to 23,590.91. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 percent to 4,777.50.
In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.5 percent to 2,328.22 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.7 percent to 942.50.
Oil:
The price of crude oil slipped closer to $95 a barrel on Monday, with energy investors keeping to the sidelines as U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for February delivery was down 24 cents to $95.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 7 cents to finish at $95.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.
A rise in stock markets did help limit losses in commodity markets, but sentiment remained fragile.
Concerns linger about the U.S. economy, with lawmakers wrangling over spending cuts and the nation’s debt ceiling, which limits the amount of debt that U.S. government can take on. Though Republican lawmakers were expected to accept a temporary increase, a final deal is still not in sight.
Brent crude, used to price international varieties of oil, fell 29 cents to $111.64 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
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Featured images courtesy Getty Images.
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goldencomando
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:51amnever let a good crisis go to waste! so they keep it on edge so they can continue to ruin the country. the repubs are just as bad as the dems. they’re all spinless. the only ones with any B*lls are the tea party!
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BehindBlueEyes
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:25amIts fun kicking the can down the road. I used to do it as a kid. I never realized it was a lesson in government.
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Advection
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:43amThe current false propaganda says that Congress must extend the debt limit because “We must pay our bills”. That’s absolutely false. When an organization has been mismanaged to the point of default, continuing on the same course, only makes the certain crash worse.
The obvious solution is to RESTRUCTURE the organization, abandoning policies that have failed for generations.
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TheEndIsComing
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:24amWhat naive people. What’s coming is coming. It now seems it will be at least 3 months later.
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Cavallo
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:48amRussian Roulette. Trying to get the most out of their money in the short run while the chambers of that revolver are still clicking on empty. They’re hoping to guess correctly when that next chamber has a shell in it so they can escape.
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