London shares opened down, taking their cue from the investor gloom affecting the US markets, with the Nasdaq falling back -1.00% and the S&P 500 down -0.66%. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) lowered its fourth-quarter US growth forecast by 20 basis points to 1.8%.
European trading was also down over concerns about a possible return to political instability affecting the economy, after Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini called for a general election. The FTSE MIB, was particularly affected (-2.48%), with the FTSE relatively insulated (-0.44%), on poor trade data but helped by a weakened sterling.
Russian cheer
Top of the FTSE benchmark is Roman Abramovich’s steel company EVRAZ (LON:EVRE), with its shares up 2.06%, after announcing solid interim results to end-June supported by positive trends in their key product markets, including the recovery of construction activity in Russia. Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) was up 1.71%, after a strong quarter featuring a jump in copper production and falling costs. Rolls Royce (LON:RR) was down -2.51%, due to significantly high cash outflow, as it battles to fix its new Trent engine.
Asian shares opened the week on a positive note after a difficult week, led by the Shanghai Composite on 0.99%, the Sensex on 0.68% and the Nikkei 225 on 0.44%.