European equity futures hinting at a firm start to proceedings for equities today
- Germany's DAX futures +0.5%
- UK's FTSE futures +0.1%
- France's CAC 40 futures +0.4%
Mainly taking a cue from the positive tone in US stocks overnight I guess. Asian equities were having a mixed day after the Nikkei fell earlier (which dragged the Hang Seng along with it, which I suspect was a round of profit taking above the 24,000 level for the Nikkei) but now things are looking up again.
China's Shanghai Composite and CSI 300 indices both close the day higher by 0.9% and 0.5% respectively. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is back in the green, now up by 0.48%.
The result of China's GDP coming in at 6.9% is also likely going to give stocks a big boost - as it means that global growth is set to continue - and the number from the industrial production figures (6.6% in 2017) aren't too bad either - beating the 2016 figure of 6.0%.
