The London Stock Exchange building is seen in the city of London, UK. Picture: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE
Overnight, the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.1%, but the index is still set for its biggest weekly gain in about two months. Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said he remained cautious about the outlook for stocks. Eurozone business activity also showed an unexpected contraction, with businesses continuing to report rising costs as inflation bites, hitting consumer demand and weighing on the outlook.
Elsewhere in foreign exchange markets, the dollar was up 0.6% against a basket of major peers, buoyed by the euro weakness, but remained on course for its biggest weekly fall since late May as recent weak economic data tempered bets for the size of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate rise.