Nasdaq posts second record high in a row
US stocks ended lower on Tuesday on lackluster economic reports. The dollar accelerated the slide after weaker than expected housing data: 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, ended 0.7% lower at 98.214. Dow Jones industrial average fell less than 0.1% to 20979.75, with losses led by Nike, UnitedHealth and Pfizer outweighing gains in Microsoft and IBM. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% settling at 2400.67 led by telecom and utilities stocks, with nine out of 11 main sectors ending in the negative territory. The Nasdaq index closed 0.3% higher at 6169.87, the second record high in a row.
European stocks slip on disappointing earnings updates
European stocks slipped on Tuesday on disappointing earnings updates. Both the euro and British Pound strengthened against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended down less than 0.1%. Germany’s DAX 30 slipped less than 0.1% closing at 12804.53. France’s CAC 40 lost 0.2% while UK’s FTSE 100 outperformed ending 0.9% higher at 7522.03, a record high.
Asian stocks slide
Asian stock indices are lower today with investor risk appetite undermined by US political turmoil after media reports said President Donald Trump asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end a probe into Trump's former national security advisor. Nikkei fell 0.5% to 19814.88 as yen slide against the dollar continued and financial stocks slumped hit by lower US yields. Chinese shares are lower: both Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index are down 0.2%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index lost 1% as banking stocks tumbled following prime minster’s warning regulators will be watchful if banks try to increase interest rates or charges in response to a proposed levy on the country’s five big banks released last week. Australian dollar eased against the greenback.
Oil prices recover ahead of inventory data
Oil futures prices are edging higher today after Tuesday’s decline following the American Petroleum Institute report US crude oil inventories rose by 882 thousand barrels last week to 523.4 million barrels. The uptick in US stock raised concerns global market oversupply continues despite efforts by top producers Saudi Arabia and Russia to extend a 1.8 million barrels per day crude supply cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and some other producers until the end of March 2018. The International Energy Agency report on Tuesday that commercial oil inventories in industrialized countries rose by 24.1 million barrels in the first quarter of 2016, despite the cuts, also weighed on oil prices. July Brent crude closed 0.3% lower at $51.65 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange on Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.