Stocks flatlined
on Wednesday as investors used the last day of May to protect gains
built up in what has been yet another lucrative month, while sterling
fell after an opinion poll suggested the ruling Conservatives could lose
seats in next week's UK general election.
World
stocks are poised to end May up nearly 2 percent, marking the seventh
straight monthly increase and the longest monthly winning streak in over
a decade.
MSCI's global equity index .MIWD00000PUS held steady on Wednesday, while European stocks edged down 0.1 percent in early trade .FTEU3 following Wall Street's dip on Tuesday .SPX .DJI.
Asian shares drew some support from data that showed activity in China's manufacturing sector grew at the same pace in May as in April, although a sturdy performance from the Japanese yen helped push the Nikkei into the red .N225.
The biggest mover in currencies was sterling, which shed 0.3 percent after a YouGov poll showed the ruling Conservative Party might lose 20 of the 330 seats it holds while the opposition Labour Party could gain nearly 30 seats.
"The return of U.S. and UK markets yesterday (after holidays) saw a little bit of weakness creep in as we head into month end and what has been a positive month for markets, with records broken on an almost daily basis," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
The main pan-European indexes were slightly lower early on Wednesday, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was flat and sterling's weakness helped lift Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE by 0.2 percent.
MSCI's global equity index .MIWD00000PUS held steady on Wednesday, while European stocks edged down 0.1 percent in early trade .FTEU3 following Wall Street's dip on Tuesday .SPX .DJI.
Asian shares drew some support from data that showed activity in China's manufacturing sector grew at the same pace in May as in April, although a sturdy performance from the Japanese yen helped push the Nikkei into the red .N225.
The biggest mover in currencies was sterling, which shed 0.3 percent after a YouGov poll showed the ruling Conservative Party might lose 20 of the 330 seats it holds while the opposition Labour Party could gain nearly 30 seats.
"The return of U.S. and UK markets yesterday (after holidays) saw a little bit of weakness creep in as we head into month end and what has been a positive month for markets, with records broken on an almost daily basis," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.
The main pan-European indexes were slightly lower early on Wednesday, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was flat and sterling's weakness helped lift Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE by 0.2 percent.
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