By IFCMarkets
US stock market closed lower on Monday as auto sales fell to a nearly three year low. The dollar inched higher: the live dollar index data show the ICE US Dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, edged up 0.05% to 100.49. The Dow Jones average slipped less than 0.1% to 20650.2 paring earlier losses, led by DuPont and American Express shares. S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 2357.71 with consumer discretionary and materials stocks leading the decliners as seven out of 11 sectors finished in the red. The Nasdaq index dropped 0.3% to 5894.68.
Stocks ended lower as disappointing vehicle sales and mixed economic data spurred concerns market rally has lifted stock valuations to historical highs on expectations of fiscal stimulus measures promised by President Trump. But the failure of Trump administration to secure support for the healthcare reform, president’s first legislative initiative, led to speculation President Trump may not be able to realize his proclaimed programs such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending programs. Low auto sales undermined investor confidence: car sales slowed last month to their slowest pace since August. Soft manufacturing data added to concerns: the US Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 53.3 in March from 54.2 the previous month, and a reading of manufacturing index from the Institute for Supply Management for March slipped to 57.2 from 57.7. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker confirmed on Monday that he still backs two more rate hikes this year. Today at 14:30 CET February Trade Balance will be released in US. The tentative outlook is positive for the dollar. At 16:00 CET Factory Orders and Durable Goods Orders for February will come out, the outlook is negative. At 22:30 CET Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo will speak at Princeton University.
European stocks fell on Monday snapping four day winning streak led by bank stocks. Both the euro and British Pound weakened against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.5%. The DAX 30 lost 0.5% to close at 12257.2. France’s CAC 40 ended 0.7% lower and UK’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5% settling at 7282.69.
European markets started the month with a decline after investors added $1.5 billion in the past week to stock funds in Europe, the most in more than a year, as they withdrew $1.9 billion from US funds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. DAX ended lower despite earlier gains following the reading of no change in final March manufacturing PMI at a 71-month high at 58.3. The overall final euro-zone manufacturing PMI for March was also confirmed at a 71-month high at 56.2. Today at 11:00 CET February Retail Sales will be released in euro-zone, the tentative outlook is positive for euro.
Asian stock indices are down today amid uncertainty about US-China trade prospects before a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping later this week. Last Friday Trump signed executive orders aimed at curbing what he has described as unfair trade practices, and tweeted that the highly anticipated meeting “will be a very difficult one.” Nikkei dropped 0.9% to 18810.25, 10 week low, with yen extending gains against the dollar and hurting exporter stocks. China and Hong Kong markets were closed for holidays. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index ended closed 1.2% higher with the Australian dollar extending losses against the dollar. Australian shares are 0.3% lower after the central bank left interest rates steady at a record low 1.5% as expected, despite a statistics bureau report country’s trade surplus more than doubled in February compared to previous month as exports of gold and minerals rebounded, while imports dropped.
Oil futures prices are extending losses today after Libya’s crude output increased as state-owned National Oil Corp lifted a force majeure on loadings of Sharara oil from the Zawiya terminal in the west of the country. Libya resumed output at 700 thousand barrels a day over the weekend as its Sharara oil field production was restarted. Prices fell on Monday with May Brent crude closing 0.8% lower at $53.12 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
Market Analysis provided by IFCMarkets
Free Reports:
Note:
This overview has an informative and tutorial character and is published for free. All the data, included in the overview, are received from public sources, recognized as more or less reliable. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the indicated information is full and precise. Overviews are not updated. The whole information in each overview, including opinion, indicators, charts and anything else, is provided only for familiarization purposes and is not financial advice or а recommendation. The whole text and its any part, as well as the charts cannot be considered as an offer to make a deal with any asset. IFC Markets and its employees under any circumstances are not liable for any action taken by someone else during or after reading the overview.