Bears were in the driver's seat in Asia today, while European stocks have managed modest gains
Stocks in Asia settled mostly lower today, with traders in Seoul and Tokyo responding to uninspiring industrial production data. However, China's Shanghai Composite bounced back from
Friday's rout to add 0.3%, led by strength in banks ahead of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) expected inclusion of the yuan in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) currency basket. Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.8%, Japan's Nikkei gave up 0.7%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.3%.
European markets have elbowed higher at midday, despite ongoing weakness in mining stocks amid tumbling iron ore prices. Traders are looking ahead to Thursday's European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, which will be preceded by eurozone inflation data on Wednesday. At last check, the German DAX is up about 1%, the French CAC 40 has advanced 0.8%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.1% higher.
