NEW YORK/LONDON, Dec. 27 (Portal) – Wall Street’s S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Tuesday after the release of US economic data, while oil prices rose after China announced it would lift its COVID-19 quarantine rule for inbound travelers. which was seen as an important step towards reopening its borders.
US Treasury bond yields rose after economic data showed the trade deficit for goods narrowed to $83.35 billion in November from $98.8 billion in the previous month, while a separate report pointed to ongoing struggles for the housing market, as property prices fell due to rising mortgage rates.
Oil hurt gains as some US energy assets shut down by winter storms restarted after hitting a three-week high earlier, as China’s recent easing of COVID-19 restrictions spurred hopes of a demand recovery.
According to Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Stamford, Connecticut, the rise in US interest rates on the first day of the bank holiday-shortened trading week put pressure on stocks in the highly interest rate-sensitive technology sector.
“It’s lacking for anyone with the conviction to step in and buy now,” said O’Rourke, who said further pressure came from a sharp decline in electric-car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) shares.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 113.48 points, or 0.34%, to 33,317.41, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was down 5.67 points, or 0.15%, to 3,839.15 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 90.23 points, or 0.86%, to 10,407.64.
Markets in some regions including London, Dublin, Hong Kong and Australia remained closed after the Christmas holidays.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) was up 0.19% and MSCI’s index of global equities (.MIWD00000PUS) was up 0.03%.
Emerging market equities (.MSCIEF) rose 0.27%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific equities outside of Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) closed 0.53% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.16%.
Benchmark 10-year bonds rose 7.5 basis points to 3.822%, compared to 3.747% on Friday. The 30-year bond was last up 9 basis points from 3.822% to 3.9116%. The 2-year note was last up 6.4 basis points to 4.387%, from 4.323%.
The dollar pared losses on Tuesday after China announced it would end its COVID-19 quarantine rule for inbound travelers, which also pushed risk-related currencies like the Australian dollar higher.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.01%, while the euro rose 0.14% to $1.065.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.37% against the greenback to 133.36 per dollar, while the pound sterling last traded at $1.2019, down 0.34% on the day.
Commodity currencies like the New Zealand and Australian dollars also moved higher. Continue reading
In energy futures, US crude was recently up 0.98% to $80.34 a barrel and Brent was at $84.81, up 1.06% on the day.
Gold prices rose as optimism over leading consumer China’s decisions to ease COVID-19 restrictions weighed on the dollar, while resilient US yields eclipsed the advance of non-profitable precious metals.
Spot gold rose 1.5% to $1,824.29 an ounce. US gold futures rose 1.09% to $1,815.50 an ounce.
Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Nell Mackenzie in London Additional reporting by Xie Yu and Ankur Banerjee Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Matthew Lewis
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