by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
A healthy start to the final full week of October with promising data aiding markets globally. In Japan we saw better than expected September Exports (6.9% against a forecasted 10.4%) lifted the Nikkei in afternoon trade to close up 0.3% on the day. This was also supported by the October PMI which came in at 51.7 against the previous months 50.4; providing the fastest rise this year. Shanghai and Hang Seng both returned strong sessions today with closes up around 1% better on the day. Also for China the off-shore Yuan continues to weaken and this evening was trading at 6.7845.
A little clarity over the political situation in Spain certainly helped the IBEX today, closing up almost 1.5% on the day. Other European indices also saw strong returns with the CAC and DAX both closed around 0.4% higher on the day. It was not such a pleasant day for the FTSE in the UK after much talk questions the focal point of the City of London and its dominant role in the financial markets.