In a rollercoaster week, global stock markets have managed to claw back sharp losses as fears of a major debt crisis in China eased. The latest instalment of the saga involving the Evergrande property empire sent markets into a tailspin on Monday: concerns that the company was about to default on a multi-million-dollar bond repayment sent share prices crashing all over the world with investors in Europe and the United States worried about the potential for contagion.
At the same time, there are worries that central banks, especially the Federal Reserve in the US, are about to start unwinding stimulus measures, removing a significant level of support from both the real economy and financial markets.
Monday’s slump turned out to be a false dawn for the bears, however: markets rallied on Tuesday as it became clear that any Evergrande default was likely to be contained within China – and would not lead to the sort of domino effect seen during the financial crisis. To calm nerves further, the property giant agreed a new repayment deal with bondholders on Wednesday, apparently heading off any immediate danger.
The US
The UK & Europe
Asia
In Asia, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong finished 1.6% down – which marked a significant recovery having slumped to almost 9% below its September high at the end of trading on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index of leading shares, meanwhile, closed 2.8% lower, giving up some of the strong gains made earlier in the month.
September 17 | September 23 | Change (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
FTSE 100 | 6963.6 | 7078.4 | 1.6 |
FTSE All-share | 4023.3 | 4081.3 | 1.4 |
S&P 500 | 4433.0 | 4449.0 | 0.4 |
Dow Jones | 34584.9 | 34764.8 | 0.5 |
DAX | 15490.2 | 15644.0 | 1.0 |
CAC 40 | 6570.2 | 6702.0 | 2.0 |
ACWI | 730.0 | 731.6 | 0.2 |
Hong Kong Hang Seng | 24920.8 | 24511.0 | -1.6 |
Nikkei 225 | 30500.1 | 29639.4 | -2.8 |
