Market Buzz: Markets under-Fed

Russian equities are likely to open lower Monday reflecting gloomy sentiment at home and abroad. Investors are avoiding big moves ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s meeting later this week.

Russian stocks closed in negative territory Friday reflecting the global background, coupled with falling crude prices. The MICEX shed 1% and the RTS declined 1.1% with resources shares among the worst hit.European stock markets fell on Friday as investors lacked positive triggers from the eurozone after a two-day regional summit. The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.8%. In Germany, The DAX 30 fell 0.8% weighed down by banking, while the French CAC 40 shed 0.9%.US stocks suffered the worst drop since June on Friday, after disappointing earnings from major tech companies such as GE, Microsoft and AMD. The tech led Nasdaq Composite declined 2.2% as shares of Apple dropped 3.6%. The Dow Jones slumped 1.5% and the S&P fell 1.6%. The data from the National Association of Realtors showed sales of existing homes fell 1.7% in September from a 7.8% rise the prior month. Though the report was in line with expectations, it failed to improve sentiment.Asia stocks mostly fell Monday, with exporters among decliners amid a weak performance of the US markets and disappointing Japanese trade data. Japan’s Nikkei Stock lost 0.1%, and South Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s S&/ASX 200 both dropped 0.6%. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.45%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1%.