Markets Return Choppy Results Monday in Face of Economic, Political Turmoil

Mixed results across the global markets in the first day of trading since last week’s dismal U.S. retail numbers, along with the deteriorating COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol siege on January 6.

At midday, Britain’s FTSE index was down 0.3 percent. France’s CAC-40 index is also 0.3 percent lower, while Germany’s DAX index is up 10 points but essentially unchanged (+0.08 percent) percentage-wise.

Asian shares started a downward trend hours earlier in the trading week. Japan’s Nikkei benchmark index fell 0.9%. The S&P/ASX index in Australia closed down 0.7 percent. In South Korea, the KOSPI index plummeted 2.3 percent, while Taiwan’s TSEC lost just over 4 points, but was virtually unchanged (0.03 percent) percentage-wise and Mumbai’s Sensex was down 0.9 percent.

The Composite Index of Shanghai closed 0.8 percent higher and the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong increased just over one percent, spurred by reports that the Chinese economy expanded 2.3 percent in 2020, overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic that shattered much of the world economy.