Political Concerns and Quarterly Earnings -- This Is What You Need to Know

Political developments in Spain and Italy keep investors in a cautious mood even as global stock markets race to multi-year and all-time highs.

Author:: Edward Hardy
Publish date:: Oct 12, 2017 3:48 AM EDT

This is what you need to know on Thursday:

1. European stocks opened mixed on Thursday as lingering concerns over political developments in Spain and Italy keep investors in a cautious mood even as global stock markets race to multi-year and all time highs.

2. A weaker U.S. dollar will also keep regional stocks gains muted after investors trimmed long positions on the greenback in the wake of last night's minutes from the Federal Reserve's September policy meeting which revealed a detailed debate over the nature of inflation and its ultimate impact on the U.S. economy.

3. The U.K. pound is also getting a lift from the dollar weakness, rising 0.27% to a one-week high of 1.3257, pushing the FTSE into a 7.5 point, or 0.1%, decline at the opening bell, according to financial bookmakers IG.

4. Overnight in Asia, polls showing an increasing likelihood of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party winning a so-called "super majority" in national elections later this month helped push the Nikkei 225 past the 21-year high it breached Wednesday, with the benchmark rising 0.4% to close at 20,954.72 points.

5. Early indications from U.S. equity futures suggest a modest pull back on Wall Street later today, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 dipping into the red. However, with key earnings from Citigroup (C) - Get Report and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) - Get Report due before the opening bell, market direction will be hard to pin down until trading begins.

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