Overseas Trading: Stocks Falter on Chinese Trade Data

Stocks in Tokyo slipped after a three-day weekend, with oil stocks pacing the decline amid a downturn in crude prices. Meanwhile, Shanghai-listed equities eked out a positive finish, despite a steeper-than-forecast 20.4% drop in imports last month. Concerns over weaker mainland demand were offset by strength in airlines, which capitalized on black gold's weakness, along with an auto rally following an upbeat 2015 sales forecast from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. By the close, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.1%, and China's Shanghai Composite climbed 0.2%.

European markets are broadly lower at midday, pressured by China's uninspiring trade data. Closer to home, traders are also eyeing a sharp plunge in Germany's ZEW economic sentiment index, which tumbled to a weaker-than-expected 1.9 in October, as well as a negative reading on U.K. inflation. At last check, the French CAC 40 is down 1.5%, Germany's DAX is 1.3% lower, and London's FTSE 100 has shed nearly 1%.