Australia

Australian shares are set to follow Wall Street lower as fears mount that a slowing Chinese economy and tariffs will rattle US corporate profits.

The SPI200 futures contract was down 20 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 5,831.0 at 8am Sydney time, hinting at an early dive for the benchmark ASX/200.
The Aussie dollar is also lower, buying 71.68 US cents, down from a high of 72.03 US cents on Monday.

Although earnings have largely surpassed Wall Street's predictions, helping the S&P 500 climb about 12 per cent from its December lows, worries about slowing global growth have tempered expectations.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 209.98 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 24,528.22, the S&P 500 lost 23.92 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 2,640.84 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 79.18 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 7,085.68.

Oil has fallen more than 3 per cent, heading for its biggest one-day percentage drop in a month after an increase in US crude drilling pointed to further supply growth.

Meanwhile, Victoria has retained its position as Australia's top economy for a third straight quarter, although NSW's consistency across the board means the state rivals are now sharing first place.

Out today: NAB business confidence.

 

ASIA

Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.03 per cent, while the Nikkei 225 led the Shanghai Composite lower. They fell 0.60 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively.

Hong Kong’s biggest pay TV operator, the embattled i-Cable Communications, fell 7.8 per cent - the most in 11 weeks after the firm revived a fundraising plan to place new shares with investors.

Carmaker Geely is down 1.35 per cent.

Industrial profits in China in December fell 1.9 per cent from a year earlier to 680.8 billion yuan, weighed down by weak factory-gate prices and soft demand, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

US-China trade talks are set to begin in Washington tomorrow.

EUROPE

European markets finished lower today with shares in London leading the region.
The FTSE 100 is down 0.91 per cent while France's CAC 40 is off 0.76 per cent and Germany's DAX is lower by 0.63 per cent.

The pan-European STOXX 600 lost 0.97 per cent, its biggest fall since 3 January, as a profit warning from Caterpillar, the world's largest heavy equipment maker, cemented investors' pessimistic mood after data showed the second consecutive drop in Chinese industrial profits in December.

NORTH AMERICA

US stocks have tumbled after warnings from Caterpillar Inc and Nvidia Corp added to concerns about a slowing Chinese economy and tariffs taking a bite out of US corporate profits.

Shares of Caterpillar fell 9.13 per cent on Monday and had their worst day since 2011 after the company's quarterly profit widely missed Wall Street estimates, hit by softening demand in China and higher manufacturing and freight costs.

Caterpillar's drop accounted for nearly one-third of the Dow's fall, and the S&P industrial index dropped one per cent.

Nvidia fell 13.82 per cent after the chipmaker cut its fourth-quarter revenue estimate by half a billion US dollars on weak demand for its gaming chips in China and lower-than-expected data centre sales.

The Philadelphia semiconductor index slumped 2.09 per cent, while the S&P technology index dropped 1.4 per cent.

Also hurting global investor sentiment, China data showed earnings at industrial companies shrank for a second straight month in December, hit by slowing prices and weak factory activity amid a protracted trade war with the US.

As signs of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy become stark, investors are pinning their hopes for a compromise between Washington and Beijing on trade when officials meet on Wednesday and Thursday.

Although earnings have largely surpassed Wall Street's expectations, helping the S&P 500 climb about 12 per cent from its December lows, worries about slowing global growth have tempered expectations.

With Wall Street in the thick of quarterly results this week, 72.6 per cent of companies that have already reported have exceeded profit estimates, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 209.98 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 24,528.22, the S&P 500 lost 23.92 points, or 0.90 per cent, to 2640.84 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 79.18 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 7085.68.

Nine of the 11 major S&P sector indexes fell. Amazon.com and Microsoft Corp each fell nearly 2 per cent, while Apple shares declined almost 1 per cent, dragging down the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. All three are set to report later this week.

The S&P energy index dropped 1.03 per cent as oil prices fell after US companies added rigs for the first time this year, a signal that crude output may rise further.

Amgen fell 3.43 per cent, weighing the most on the Nasdaq Biotech index, after Evercore ISI downgraded its stock, citing heightened competition for its arthritis drug.