World stocks near 15-month high; China data dampens mood

investing.com:

By Elizabeth Howcroft

LONDON (Reuters) -World shares were steady near their recent 15-month highs and the dollar held close to a one-year low on Tuesday as investors paused to take stock of weak economic data from China and waited for U.S. retail sales data.

Asian stocks fell earlier in the session as markets caught up with growth data from Monday showing the post-pandemic bounce in China's economy was over.

Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) said it was lowering its forecast for China's economic growth this year, following similar moves on Monday by J.P.Morgan, Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Citigroup (NYSE:C).

At 1059 GMT, the MSCI World Equity index was little changed at 697.41, just below the 698.39 reached on Friday, which was the highest since April 2022.

European shares were mixed, with the STOXX 600 up 0.2%, London's FTSE 100 up 0.1% and Germany's DAX down 0.1% .

«China is super important to Europe,» said Fiona Cincotta, senior markets analyst at City Index. «There are a lot of concerns about what weakness in China could mean for Germany and the German economy and I think we're seeing that being played on in the DAX, which is struggling to push higher.»

Wall Street futures pointed to investors staying on the sidelines as they waited for U.S. retail sales and industrial production figures later in the session, which could give indications about the Federal Reserve's policy outlook.

Nasdaq e-minis were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 e-minis were little changed.

Investors are also keeping an eye on quarterly company results this week. Some of the largest U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), said on Friday they got a profit boost from higher rates, pointing towards a resilient economy.

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