NEW YORK: A global rally in stocks paused on Tuesday, halting a nine-day advance that had sent the most widely tracked index of world stock markets to record highs.
Wall Street’s two broadest indexes dipped in U.S. trading, sending the MSCI 47-country ‘All-World’ index .MIWD00000PUS down slightly after it had hit record highs above 500 points when Japan’s Nikkei .N225 notched its best level since 1992 and Germany’s DAX .GDAXI scored a record high. The index is up nearly 20 percent for the year to date.
“You’ve had almost a perfect backdrop for equities,” said Pictet Asset Management’s global strategist Luca Paolini. “You have acceleration in nominal growth, earnings are between 10-15 (percent higher) globally and whatever you look at is pretty much in double digits.”
After hitting all-time highs shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 8.81 points, or 0.04 percent, to end at 23,557.23, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.49 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,590.64 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 18.65 points, or 0.27 percent, to 6,767.78.
Financial stocks .SPSY led the U.S. market lower, with the S&P 500 financial sector losing 1.3 percent, the largest decline of any sector. U.S. Treasury debt yields hit a two-week low.
Oil prices fell slightly after posting the biggest rise in six weeks following a move by the Saudi crown prince to tighten his grip on power and crank up tensions between the kingdom and Iran.
U.S. crude CLcv1 fell 0.19 percent to $57.24 per barrel and Brent crude futures LCOcv1 were last at $63.76, down 0.79 percent after touching a peak of $64.65.
The dollar was also on the move amid signs of more change at the Federal Reserve, while President Donald Trump’s Republican party pushes ahead with its tax cut program.
The dollar index .DXY rose 0.15 percent, with the euro EUR= down 0.17 percent to $1.1589, the eurozone single currency’s lowest since mid-July. The Japanese yen weakened 0.25 percent to 113.98 per dollar JPY=, while sterling GBP= was last trading at $1.3165, down 0.04 percent on the day.
The Mexican peso lost 0.70 percent to 19.15 to the dollar MXN=. The Canadian dollar CAD= fell 0.54 percent versus the greenback at C$1.28 per dollar.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR last rose 2/32 in price to yield 2.3145 percent, from 2.32 percent late on Monday.
The 30-year U.S. bond US30YT=RR last rose 13/32 in price to yield 2.7762 percent, from 2.796 percent late on Monday.
Germany’s 10-year bond yields DE10YT=RR held near two-month lows at 0.338 percent after the European Central Bank firmed up its plans to reinvest the proceeds of its 2.5 trillion euro stimulus program. [GVD/EUR]
