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World stocks mostly down amid mixed US earnings results
NEW YORK, April 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Stock markets mostly sunk on Thursday
as investors digested one of the busiest days of the US corporate earnings
season, while oil prices edged back after flirting with six-month highs.
Analyst Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com summed up the results from major US
companies as “the good, the bad and the ugly.”
In the ugly column was a big miss by industrial products manufacturer 3M,
which announced worldwide job cuts due to falling sales, helping to drive the
Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.5 percent. The broader S&P 500 ended
essentially flat.
On the good side of the ledger were Microsoft — which became just the
third tech giant to reach the $1 trillion value mark — and Facebook, with
the two titans bolstering the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index.
“It’s 100 percent about earnings,” analyst Adam Sarhan of 50 Park
Investment told AFP. “Investors digest a lot of data and we are getting mixed
signals with respect to earnings but mostly positive.”
And online commerce giant Amazon reported that earnings more than doubled
in the first quarter to $3.6 billion, but the news came after the market
close.
Analysts also were encouraged by US data showing an unexpected jump in
durable goods in March, which adds to the positive signs for first quarter
GDP growth, due out early Friday.
However European markets closed solidly in the red after the collapse of
two mega-mergers in the supermarket and banking industries.
And oil prices neared six-month highs amid supply concerns stoked by the
United States’ tightening the screws on sanctions-hit Iran but retreated by
the end of the day.
“Brent crude oil has rallied above $75 a barrel for the first time this
year on the back of tighter sanctions on Iran, while gains in West Texas
Intermediate have been curtailed by a surge in US supply,” noted Dean
Popplewell, markets analyst at Oanda trading group.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in June jumped to $75.60 per barrel,
the highest level since the end of October, before falling back to $74.24.
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US benchmark West Texas Intermediate prices reached $66.28 per barrel —
just 0.03 cents away from its own six-month high — before also dropping back
to $65.05.
The US announcement this week that it would remove waivers that had
allowed countries to buy oil from Iran despite US sanctions is expected to
hit supplies, though analysts are keeping watch on the region and whether
OPEC responds by opening up the taps.
– Euro sinks to near 2-year low –
While the mood on trading floors remains broadly positive, there are
lingering concerns that growth in most parts of the world is well off the
pace of the United States.
European stock markets closed solidly down, with shares in Deutsche Bank
down 2.1 percent and Commerzbank dropping 2.4 percent after Germany’s two
biggest lenders ended merger talks.
British supermarket Sainsbury’s meanwhile slid 4.7 percent after the UK’s
competition watchdog blocked its proposed merger with Walmart-owned Asda.
Asian markets also stuttered following some weak economic data.
In foreign exchange news, the euro dropped to $1.1118, its lowest level
against the dollar since June 2017, before rebounding slightly.
“The euro is cheap, dragged down by weak growth, political uncertainty and
two-year bond yields that are even lower than Japan’s,” said Kit Juckes,
macro strategist at the French bank Societe Generale.
– Key figures around 2100 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.5 percent at 26,495.56 (close)
New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 2,926.17 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 8,118.68 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,434.13 points (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: DOWN 0.3 percent at 12,282.60 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 5,557.67 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,491.92 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 22,307.58 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: DOWN 0.9 percent at 29,549.80 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 2.4 percent at 3,123.83 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1135 from $1.1156 at 2200 GMT
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2891 from $1.2902
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 111.61 yen from 112.13 yen
Oil – Brent Crude: DOWN 27 cents at $74.30 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: DOWN eight cents at $65.10 per barrel
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