Market Update & Important Indicators:
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday, reversing a recent rebound, as investors parsed escalating geopolitical tensions and the latest gauge of U.S. inflation. The Dow industrials fell 0.9%. The S&P 500 declined 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%. Major indexes posted their largest one-day rise in more than two weeks Tuesday but remain more than 6.5% off all-time highs hit earlier this year. U.S. crude oil climbed 2% to its highest level since December 2014, supporting shares of energy firms Investors were digesting the latest updates on the economy and monetary policy. U.S. The consumer-price index fell 0.1% from a month earlier, the first decline since May 2017. Excluding energy and food, consumer prices rose 0.2%, extending a trend of steady growth. Among individual stocks, Facebook shares added 1.4%.Netflix shares climbed 2.2% to $304.71 after JPMorgan Chase analysts raised their price target on the streaming giant to $328 from $285. Shares of Fastenal shed 6.3% after the maker of fasteners and manufacturing tools posted quarterly earnings that were in line with expectations. The US Gold price rose overnight jumping 1% to 1352.8 $US/oz.
European shares closed lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index ending down 0.6% at 376.18 as geopolitical tensions soured sentiment. Swiss cocoa processor Barry Callebaut was the biggest faller, down 8.4%, with UBS citing a risk of slowing volumes in the second half. U.K. retailer Tesco was the biggest pan-European riser after upbeat annual results, gaining 7.2%. Germany's DAX ended down 0.8%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.6%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 outperformed but still ended down 0.1%. Spain's IBEX 35 closed 0.3% lower and Italy's FTSE MIB was down 0.7%.
Asian stocks were mixed Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.5%, while indexes in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong were each higher, but by less than 1%. Stock-exchange operator Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing rose 2.3%. In economic news, China on Wednesday released lower-than-expected inflation data for March after consumer prices jumped by the most in four years in February. Across the region, energy stocks were strong after oil prices posted their biggest increase in 16 months on Tuesday, climbing more than 3%.
Australian equities underperformed others in Asia Pacific throughout today's trading after yesterday's outsized gains, and the selling built into the close. Finishing near session lows, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 5828.7 as further strong gains by resource stocks failed to counter broad weakness and a pullback by the major banks. While the likes of BHP, Rio Tinto and Woodside Petroleum all rose more than 1%, the big banks had declines of that much in reversing yesterday's jump. Also retreating was Telstra in shedding 1.6%.
The London Metal Exchange’s 3-month copper contract rose on Tuesday night, rising 0.1% at 6,912/t. The other base metals were mainly higher overnight. Lead prices rose 0.7% to 2,407/t, whilst zinc prices declined 0.2% to 3,230/t. Nickel finished 1.2% higher at 13,821/t, continuing its upward trend was aluminium which rose 2.4% at 2,259/t. Tin Prices increased 0.6% to 21,052/t
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