Home ›› 09 Jul 2022 ›› Stock
European shares opened slightly lower on Friday and struggled to make gains after the shooting of Japan’s former prime minister caused a pullback in Asian shares, while investors waited for key US jobs data later in the session.
Investor sentiment had been positive earlier in the session, which analysts said was due to attempts by US Federal Reserve policymakers to ease recession fears and news of Chinese fiscal stimulus.
US indexes had a positive close on Thursday after Fed Governor Christopher Waller called recession fears “overblown”, while St. Louis Fed Bank President James Bullard said he saw a “good chance” of a soft landing for the economy.
But Asian shares gave up some of their gains and the safe-haven Japanese yen rose after news that Shinzo Abe was in grave condition, after being shot while campaigning for a parliamentary election.
Abe stepped down in 2020 citing ill health, but he has remained a dominant presence over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), controlling one of its major factions.
The longer-term impact of the shooting on markets was unclear, said Guillaume Paillat, multi-asset portfolio manager at Aviva Investors, adding that he did not think it would impact Japan’s elections this weekend.
At 0751 GMT, the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 50 countries, was down 0.1 per cenrt on the day but set for a 1.4 per cenrt weekly gain overall.
