Moving Markets: What’s Happening Today?

Hello, young investors! Today, we are going to take a closer look at what is happening in some of the largest stock markets in the world. Sometimes these stock markets go down; sometimes they go up. Let’s find out what happened this Monday, essentially on US Labor Day.

FTSE 100 Takes a Dip

First, the FTSE 100: pretty much, this is just a long list of the 100 largest companies in the UK. It had sort of a rough day today, finishing 0.2% lower-meaning that the overall value of these companies went down slightly.

One of the big drivers for this decline was news coming out of China that hit mining companies. The companies send energy underground to dig up precious stuff like metals, and poor news out of China makes their stocks plummet. Additionally, Burberry, which is an upscale British retailer, may soon be booted from the list. That news all combined led the FTSE 100 down today.

Not all bad news, though. A bright spot was Rightmove, which is a website that aids in the buying and selling of houses and apartments. Their shares leaped a huge 26% today with word there may be an interest by another company-putting in a bid for it, a Rupert Murdoch-backed company.

Now, let’s catch up on what happened in Europe. The mood was brighter in European markets today. The DAX is the equivalent of the FTSE 100 but for Germany; it rose by 0.1% today. That is a small increase but still positive. In Paris, its equivalent, the CAC, also went up, rising 0.2%.

The STOXX 600 includes many European companies and ended the day almost flat. “Flat” here means it has not gone up or down much.

Last week was stronger for European stocks, based on good news coming from the Eurozone inflation data. When it slows down, this means that inflation-a rise in prices-isn’t too high, meaning this is a healthy economy. The news sent European stocks soaring to near-record highs.

China’s Impact on the Markets

Lately, China has been in the news and not all for good reasons. Today was more news about Alibaba, a huge online shopping company in China. Stock for Alibaba went down today by 2%. That is because of some tough rules from the government in China.

A few years ago, Alibaba was fined a good sum of money for failing to comply with the set rules on how they should operate their business. It had to invest three years in streamlining its operations so as to better align with the regulations. To date, the Chinese government is still monitoring it to see if it will keep on operating correctly.

Why This Matters

You may ask yourself, “Why should I care about all this stock market stuff?” It’s because the stock market can be applied to the economy, and the economy also influences people’s jobs and prices for things we purchase. When huge companies prosper, usually it is good news for the economy.

Knowing how the stock market works will help if you are thinking about ways of investing or saving money. For instance, if a company’s stock is on the rise, that could be a good indicator of the success of the company.

What’s Next?

So, what should you watch? Well, look for more news on China and Europe. They’re big enough to move the whole global economy. Also, track the story progression of companies like Rightmove and Burberry.
And remember, the stock market is moving all the time. Big-picture items are like jigsaw pieces which constantly get moved around, so staying current puts in context what you see.

Wrapping It Up

To sum up: It was a bad start to September for the FTSE 100, but European markets fared better. Any news coming out of China can have major ramifications, particularly those affecting mega-companies such as Alibaba. Labor Day is today in the US, so some markets have been closed, which means we will have to wait until tomorrow to see how things are truly doing.

So, it is good to stay updated-whether you are interested in the stock market or simply fascinated by how the economic world works. Who knows? Maybe one day you will be making those big investment decisions in the stock market!