In the course of the trading session on Wednesday, the world stock indices demonstrated a chaotic movement, so it was difficult to determine their further direction.
For example, a clear pessimistic sentiment was observed in the shares of oil companies. Market experts cite the publication of data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the reason for this negative trend. The IEA left its outlook for the global oil demand almost unchanged, announcing a growth rate of 5.5 million barrels per day (bpd) this year and 3.4 million bpd in the future.
That day, investors were focused on the long-awaited release of the data on crude oil inventories in the United States as well as the report on new home starts.
A day earlier, upbeat data on retail sales in the US was released. Thus, the indicator rose by 1.7%, significantly exceeding the preliminary estimates. In addition, on Tuesday, the financial statements of the US leading retailers were published. Thus, the world's largest wholesale and retail chain Walmart reported a decrease in profits for 9 months, and the company's securities lost 2.55% in value. At the same time, the quarterly profit of the world's largest chain selling repair tools and building materials Home Depot grew by 20% in the financial quarter, and its shares went up by 5.73%. Shares of the transnational financial corporation Mastercard soared by 3.98%.
As for the European stock exchanges, the discussion of inflation data in the eurozone and the UK came to the forefront. In addition, on Wednesday, investors were waiting for the comments from the members of the European Central Bank and national banks.
Throughout the European session, the maximum losses (- 7.5%) were borne by the securities of the developer of the Swedish online casino Evolution AB. At the same time, the German manufacturer of medical equipment Siemens Healthineers AG remained the growth leader (+ 4.6%).
The UK stock market came under significant pressure after consumer prices jumped to a record high in a decade to 4.2% in October from 3.1% in September. At the same time, the inflation rate in October rose to 1.1% after 0.3% a month earlier, while experts predicted 3.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
Other European exchanges closed mostly in positive territory on Wednesday as the inflation data in the euro area came in line with the forecast. Thus, the ratio of the EU indicator to the UK indicator in October amounted to 4.2% against 0.8%.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Exchange index was showing a steady decline at the beginning of the trading session on Wednesday but returned to the closing levels of the previous day later in the evening. So, at the time of writing, this indicator dropped by 0.106% to 4,115.64 points.
On Wednesday, investors expected the release of the Russian consumer price index for the past week. In addition, the Federal State Statistics Service, Rosstat, was expected to disclose its estimate of the GDP growth in the third quarter of this year.
The best performing stocks on Moscow Exchange remained the securities of the Russian metallurgical company VSMPO-Avisma, that showed an increase of 5.4% following the announcement of expanding cooperation with Boeing. Among the steadily growing securities on the Moscow Exchange, shares of Mechel Up (+ 2.28%), VTB (+ 1.49%), and Verkhnesald (+ 3.03%) also stand out.
The quotes of the Russian telecommunication provider MTS sank by 0.1% ahead of the data release for the third quarter of 2021. The main outsiders were the shares of MOESK (-2.17%), Seligdar (-2.1%), and Magnit (-2 ,08%).
At the end of the trading session on Wednesday, most of the stock exchange indicators of the Asia-Pacific Region (APR) reported a decline, refusing to follow the dynamics of the US stock market.
Thus, the Japanese Nikkei 225 lost 0.4%, the Chinese Shanghai Composite increased by 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank by 0.25%, and the South Korean KOSPI lost 1.2%.
Among the worst-performing stocks were Sunny Optical Technology Group Co. Ltd. (-4.4%), Country Garden Services Holdings Co. Ltd. (-4.2%), Haidilao International Holding Ltd. (-3.3%), Sony Group Corp. (-0.7%), Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. (-1.3%), Samsung Electronics Co. (-0.8%), Pacific Metals Co. Ltd. (-5.3%), Hino Motors Ltd. (-4.9%), Recruit Holdings Co. Ltd. (-4.6%), and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (-0.3%).
At the same time, the leaders of Wednesday's stock race were the shares of Tencent Holdings Ltd. (+ 1.3%), Xiaomi Corp. (+ 0.2%), Hyundai Motor (+ 0.2%), Advantest Corp. (+ 3.2%), and SoftBank Group Corp. (+ 0.3%).
