An employee passes share price information displayed on an electronic ticker board inside the London Stock Exchange Group’s offices in London, the UK. Picture: BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES/LUKE MACGREGOR
US cybersecurity company NortonLifeLock said it had agreed to buy London-listed rival Avast for up to $8.6bn to create a leader in consumer security software.The MSCI all country index was just below its lifetime high hit on Tuesday as markets held their breath ahead of the US consumer price index at 12.30pm GMT.
Economists polled by Reuters estimate US inflation rose 5.3% in the 12 months through July, versus 5.4% in June. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.4%, with South Korea falling 0.7% and Taiwan shedding 0.6%. Japan’s Nikkei bucked the trend, gaining 0.6% on brisk earnings, while Japanese bank shares benefited from higher US yields.
The dollar was supported by rises in longer and shorter dated treasury yields, which reached their highest levels since mid-July with yields on benchmark 10-year treasury notes at 1.3608%.