STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 15 December 2014

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7. EUROPE STOCKS HIGHER; ASIA FALLS AMID SYDNEY SIEGE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-15-03-48-10

KEEPING SCORE: In early European trading, France's CAC 40 was up 0.3 percent at 4,120.44 and Germany's DAX gained 0.1 percent to 9,600.89. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,307.59. Futures pointed to a rebound on Wall Street after Friday's decline, which produced the worst weekly loss in U.S. shares in more than two years. Dow futures were up 0.6 percent at 17,288 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.6 percent to 2,002.60.

OIL SLUMP: Oil inched higher after another rout on Friday that was sparked by the International Energy Agency saying that global demand will grow less than previously forecast next year. Oil has now fallen 47 percent since reaching a peak of $107 in June this year. On Monday, benchmark U.S. crude was up 41 cents at $58.22 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Lower oil prices should be positive for many countries but there are also worries the recent plunge is a sign of a sickly global economy.

JAPAN ELECTIONS: Japan's ruling coalition won a convincing victory in lower house elections Sunday, giving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democrats up to four more years to pursue economic and political reforms. But the "tankan" business survey released Monday highlighted challenges facing Abe's government which is using lavish monetary and fiscal stimulus to end two decades of economic stagnation. More than two-thirds of the large and medium-sized companies surveyed said they viewed the outlook for the coming quarter as "not so favorable."

THE QUOTE: "While the (Japan election) result was largely expected, I still feel there is room for buying dips in USD/JPY and the Nikkei given Prime Minister Abe is only likely to ramp up his strategy," said market strategist Stan Shamu at IG in Melbourne, Australia. "The fact that many continue to doubt whether Mr Abe is capable of delivering a successful economic strategy goes a long way toward contributing to the subdued price action. This only means Abe has to be even more aggressive to prevent failure."