Global Markets Muted Following Alaska Summit
By Dow Jones Newswires StaffIt was a muted start to the week in global stock markets; U.S. stock futures, which have been buoyed by strong earnings, were flat to a touch lower, as were European markets early on. Still, in Asia, Taiwan shares hit a new record high. The dollar and U.S. Treasury yields were little changed, as focus shifts to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday, and before that Fed minutes on Wednesday.Meanwhile, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Finland, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House later, with Zelensky walking a diplomatic tightrope after President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin's Alaska summit.U.S. futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.1%, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3% and Nasdaq futures were barely changed early in Europe. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was flat in morning trading, France's CAC40 and Germany's DAX were down 0.4% with small gains and losses in other national markets.Asian stock markets ended mixed. Taiwan's Taiex closed at a record high powered by TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker. Its shares rose 16.5% in the second quarter and are up 11% so far in the current quarter. Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.8%, whereas Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat.The dollar was marginally up as investors await hints from Fed Chair Powell at Jackson Hole regarding a now widely-expected rate cut in September. Money markets are pricing in an 84% probability of a 25 basis-point cut, according to LSEG. The DXY dollar index against a basket of major currencies was up 0.1% to 97.907.The two-year U.S. Treasury yield eased 1 basis point to 3.747%, the 10-year yield fell 2 basis points to 4.306% and the 30-year yield was last down 2 basis points to 4.904%, according to Tradeweb.Oil prices were mixed, with Brent crude down 0.1% at $65.78 a barrel and WTI flat at $62.76 a barrel, having fallen further earlier in the session following the Alaska summit between Trump and Putin. While talks failed to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, the meeting's tone, and the absence of severe consequences for lacking a breakthrough, partially lowered the risks of stricter sanctions on Russia and its energy flows, ING analysts said.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]