Equities Today

Asian equities took the lead from Friday’s sharp losses in North America, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index falling 0.7%. Its losing streak has extended to the sixth session, during which time it has lost about 4.3%, leaving it up less than 1% on the year. Telecoms, financials and basic materials offered the downside leadership. Ongoing concerns about the tightening of monetary conditions and new fund raising by Chinese banks pushed the Shanghai Composite down a little more than 1%, the largest loss in the region. European bourses are trying to recover from early losses; helped by a recovery in US share prices. Financials, basic materials and industrials are leading the recovery. US shares are set to recover nearly half of what was lost before the weekend.