World stocks mixed amid investor jitters, commodities tumble
Business
World stocks mixed amid investor jitters, commodities tumble
SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks were mixed in choppy trading on Monday as investors were jittery ahead of major corporate earnings reports and central bank moves, and concern over the global economic outlook dented commodities and oil prices touched early June lows.
Global crude benchmark futures fell 1.4% as worry over Chinese energy demand outweighed any concern about tensions in the Middle East or Venezuela.
Copper and iron ore prices were also lower, and aluminium fell to multi-month lows, while there was little by way of support from China's Politburo, which at its July meeting announced no new detailed efforts to boost the economy.
"The consensus is that the US economy is going to be softer this quarter and maybe next quarter as well and you can't really rely on the euro area to offer any compensation for that. China has got its own problems and doesn't look like it's going to snap into gear," Daiwa Capital economist Chris Scicluna said.
"Understandably, we might have been hoping for the global economy to be gaining traction and momentum to be picking up at this stage in the cycle, but it looks like maybe things are coming off the boil a bit," he said.
