World equities, yields close lower before US-China crunch time

NEW YORK -- Stock indexes around the world fell for a fourth day in a row on Thursday, though Wall Street closed above session lows after comments from President Donald Trump about US-China trade talks a day before the United States was due to raise tariffs.

Trump said Thursday afternoon he received a "beautiful letter" from Chinese President Xi Jinping asking to work together to "get something done." Negotiators were to meet at 5 p.m. Eastern and continue talks through Friday.

Wall Street participants were still anxious but oil prices also pared losses after Trump's comments. US Treasury yields fell as investors sought safe havens and the dollar was down against Japan's yen, though it regained some ground.

Earlier in the day China had asked the United States to meet it halfway in the hope of staving off threat of a US tariff hike on $200 billion of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent at 0400 GMT (12 p.m. in Manila) on Friday.

"What the market fears deep down is an all-out trade war with no hope for resolution," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York.

"Trading today is telling me that the expectation for a trade deal is now that it's likely to happen a bit sooner than months away or never," he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 138.97 points, or 0.54 percent, to 25,828.36, the S&P 500 lost 8.7 points, or 0.30 percent, to 2,870.72 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 32.73 points, or 0.41 percent, to 7,910.59.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 1.65 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.78 percent.

Previously Beijing said it would retaliate if the tariff hike is implements while Trump had insisted China "broke the deal."

"Investors are worried about the clash of the titans," said Joseph Quinlan head of market strategy for Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank in New York.

"It's the knock-on effect on the rest of the world in terms of potential disruptions to global supply chains, the decline in investor confidence, business confidence and consumer confidence. And we're getting closer to striking midnight."

US Treasury yields fell as investors looked for safety but regained some ground after hitting a five-week low partly due to Trump's latest comments. Yet strategists were cautious.

"I don't think we are going to get an all-clear sign on Friday," said Blake Gwinn, head of front-end rates strategy at NatWest Markets in Stamford, Connecticut. "This could keep rolling along for weeks or months."

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 9/32 in price to yield 2.4512 percent, from 2.483 percent late on Wednesday after hitting a session low of 2.422 percent, which was also a five-week low.

In currencies, the yen had surged to a three-month high against the dollar and the Swiss franc was at a three-week high as investors worried about an escalating trade conflict.

The greenback eased some declines and was last down 0.4 percent against the yen.

The dollar index fell 0.21 percent, with the euro up 0.25 percent to $1.1219.

In commodities, spot gold added 0.3 percent to $1,283.81 an ounce.

Brent oil futures settled slightly higher and US crude pared losses after a revival of investor hopes the United States could reach a trade deal and avert a hit to global economic growth, which would crimp oil demand.

US crude futures fell 0.85 percent to $61.70 per barrel, down 42 cents, 0.68 percent while Brent futures settled at $70.39 per barrel, up 2 cents, 0.03 percent lost 2.08

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Global markets: Stocks up, oil slides

NEW YORK - A measure of stocks across major markets globally inched up to a record high on Tuesday, lifted by gains in Europe amid corporate and economic strength, while crude futures tumbled as prices breached key technical levels.

A broad index of European stocks rose to its highest since August 2015, boosted by company earnings and as a survey of factory activity in the euro zone jumped to its highest since April 2011. French blue chips hit their highest in nearly a decade and Germany's DAX set a record high.

Robust results have helped lift share prices across the globe this year, with major U.S. indexes at or near record levels. First-quarter profits of companies on the benchmark S&P 500 index are expected to have risen 13.9 percent, the strongest rise since 2011, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Financial markets in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea are closed on Wednesday for public holidays.

BP shares rose 1.6 percent after the oil major's first-quarter profit tripled.

Apple shares fell 1.2 percent to $145.75 in extended trading after the iPhone maker reported a surprise fall in iPhone sales.

"The economy is doing better within Europe, but these also tend to be global companies," said Isabelle Mateos y Lago, chief multi-asset strategist at BlackRock.

"The main reason why we are optimistic is because European companies are extremely well plugged in to benefit from the global reflation story, from China and US growth picking up."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.43 points, or 0.17 percent, to 20,949.89, the S&P 500 gained 2.84 points, or 0.12 percent, to 2,391.17 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.76 points, or 0.06 percent, to 6,095.37.

The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.75 percent to end at a near 21-month high and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.27 percent to an all-time high.

The US dollar hit a six-week high of 112.30 Japanese yen as traders anticipated that despite some recent weak data the Federal Reserve would prepare markets for an interest rate increase in June in its statement following a policy meeting this week.

The yen weakened 0.13 percent against the greenback to 111.99 per dollar.

The Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady after its two-day meeting that began Tuesday, as it pauses to examine more economic data, but may hint it is on track for an increase in June.

Traders do not anticipate a hike on Wednesday but are currently forecasting a 65.2 percent chance of a 25-basis-point hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to Thomson Reuters data.

US benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were last up 11/32 in price to yield 2.2874 percent, from 2.327 percent late on Monday, ahead of the Fed statement on Wednesday.

WTI plunged on reports of rising output in the United States and extended losses on technical selling, while Brent crude oil prices fell to the lowest in over five months, erasing all the gains since OPEC agreed to cut production at the end of November.

US crude futures pared losses after data showed a bigger-than-expected inventory draw.

US crude fell 1.84 percent to $47.94 per barrel and Brent was last at $50.77, down 1.46 percent on the day.

Gold touched a three-week low of $1,251.37 an ounce as demand for the safe-haven asset waned. Spot gold was little changed at $1,256.36 an ounce.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Wall Street rises on earnings despite oil price pressure

NEW YORK - Wall Street ended higher on Tuesday boosted by corporate earnings, while the dollar climbed to a more than one-week high on technical buying and political uncertainty in Europe.

Even so, US stocks pared earlier gains as oil dropped, pressured by growing gasoline stockpiles in the United States and evidence of a revival in US shale production.

 "US shale is coming back, and it's coming back strong," said Societe Generale oil analyst Michael Wittner.

Brent crude settled down 67 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $55.05 a barrel while US crude ended 84 cents, or 1.6 percent, lower at $52.17.

The weakness in oil dragged down US energy shares but this was countered by gains in big tech names that helped lift the Nasdaq to a record closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit an intraday all-time high just after the market opened.

"The story is a pretty good one for stocks in terms of it looks like the economy is continuing to grow, I think corporate profits have been pretty good, certainly enough to support higher prices," said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.87 points, or 0.19 percent, to end at 20,090.29, the S&P 500 gained 0.52 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,293.08 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.67 points, or 0.19 percent, to 5,674.22.

Fourth-quarter US earnings are estimated to have risen 8.2 percent, the best in nine quarters.

The dollar gained for a fifth straight session, climbing to a more than one-week high in part because of "buying by bargain-hunters looking to pick up the greenback following its worst start to the year in 30 years," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.

The greenback posted its best one-day gain since mid-January, rising at the expense of the euro.

The euro fell 0.8 percent to $1.0665, its biggest fall since Dec. 15, before recovering to $1.0696.

The euro zone common currency struggled on renewed concern about Greece's debt problems and signs far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is gaining momentum before France's presidential election.

The political uncertainty weighed on French stocks, which slipped as election jitters dampened the country's sovereign bonds.

Even so, European shares still closed higher overall, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index rising 0.32 percent, helped by corporate results.

Investors also fled French government bonds. Though opinion polls suggested that Le Pen will not win the second round of the presidential election in May, such polls have been wrong before, Rabobank analysts said on Tuesday.

Le Pen has vowed to fight globalization and take France out of the euro zone.

The premium investors demand for buying French 10-year government bonds over German 10-year bonds rose to 78 basis points, the highest since November 2012 before easing back a bit. It was 50 basis points only two weeks ago.

US Treasury yields fell to their lowest in nearly three weeks, drifting past significant technical levels, as fixed-income investors worried that President Donald Trump's pro-growth policies could be hamstrung by his focus on other issues.

The US trade deficit also fell more than expected in December as exports rose to their highest in more than 1-1/2 years, outpacing an increase in imports. The dollar gained 4.4 percent against the currencies of the United States' main trading partners last year.

source: news.abs-cbn.com