Wednesday, August 19, 2009

"China? U.S.? Which Might Lead Stocks Higher?" And: JP Morgan Weighs In

Two from MarketBeat:

U.S. futures are pointing lower again today, after another selloff in China.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.3%, as investors grew more worried about expected credit tightening directed by the government. Chinese metal and resource companies led the move lower. The Hang Seng was down 1.7%.

An the global merry-go-round of market sentiment has spun recently, neither China nor the U.S. has seemed ready to lead stocks up another leg, contributing to the sense that investors are somewhat adrift. In fact, it seems that, sometimes market watchers tend to point fingers to the other side of the Pacific to explain selloffs.

To wit, this morning Western markets are taking their cues from Asia. Manoj Ladwa of London’s Tradindex told Dow Jones this morning the market “seems to be led by the China story,” adding “money is going to be taken off the table today, traders could take profits and that could be the theme for the rest of the week.”>>>MORE

And:

J.P. Morgan Analysts Weigh-in on China-U.S. Market Merry-Go-Round

Just a quick follow onto our previous post about the relationship between U.S. stock markets and those in China — which hit bear territory after another selloff earlier today.

J.P. Morgan analysts cranked out a quick note on the ties between markets on both sides of the Pacific, noting that “although there is almost no correlation between Chinese and US stocks on the same day, Chinese stocks are influenced by the previous day’s performance of US stocks to some extent.” >>>MORE