Technology stocks drag US stock market lower
US stock indexes retreated on Monday after North Korea tensions flared up as it threatened to shoot down US bombers. The dollar strengthened: the live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 0.4% to 92.65. S&P 500 closed 0.2% lower settling at 2496.66, led by technology stocks. Six out of 11 main sectors finished in the red. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.2% to 22296.09. The Nasdaq composite index fell the steepest closing 0.9% lower at 6370.59 as Apple fell 0.9%.
Merkel’s win in German election supports European stocks
European stocks aended higher on Monday as Merkel’s center right bloc won Germany’s general election. The euro and British Pound fell against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2%. The DAX 30 ended marginally higher at 12594.81, erasing earlier losses. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.3%. UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 7301.29. Indices opened 0.2% lower today.
Asian stocks fall on rising geopolitical tensions
Asian stock indicesare mostly lower today as investor confidence was undermined by rising tensions on Korean Peninsula. Nikkei fell 0.4% to 20319.50 as yen extended gains against the dollar. Chinese stocks are edging higher while real estate stocks slipped as government put forward new measures to cool the sector: both the Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index are up 0.1%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index is down 0.2% on lower metal prices despite continued decline in Australian dollar against the greenback.
Oil edges lower
Oil futures prices are correcting lower today on concerns higher prices would support increased US crude output. The US Energy Information Administration said that production from wells in shale formations will rise for a 10th month in a row in October. Prices jumped Monday after Turkish President Erdogan threatened to cut off the pipeline that carries between 500 thousand and 600 thousand barrels per day oil exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region. November Brent crude rose 3.8% settling at more than two-year high $59.02 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange on Monday.