By IFCMarkets

US stock indices closed at fresh record highs in a choppy trade on Wednesday. The dollar strengthened as producer price index rose 0.2% in August after 0.1% decline in July: 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, rose 0.5% to 92.388. The S&P 500 advanced 1.89 points settling at 2498.37 led by energy and consumer discretionary shares which offset 0.8% drop in Apple shares. The Dow Jones rose 0.2% to 22158.18. Nasdaq composite added 0.1% to 6460.19.

European stocks edged lower on Wednesday as the momentum after North Korea tensions subsided and damage from Hurricane Irma was not as sever as feared tapered off. Both the euro and British Pound reversed most of previous session gains against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.02%. Germany’s DAX 30 rose 0.2% to 12553.57. France’s CAC 40 added 0.2% while UK’s FTSE 100lost 0.3% to 7379.70 as UK wage growth was weaker than expected. Bank of England interest rate decision is due at 13:00 CET today, no change in policy is expected. Indices opened 0.1% – 0.3% lower today.

Asian stock indices are lower today after disappointing Chinese data. China’s fixed-asset investment, factory output and retail sales all grew less than expected in August. Chinese stocks are down: both Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index are 0.4% lower. The Nikkei ended 0.3% lower at 19807.44 as yen advanced against the dollar. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index is 0.1% down with the Australian dollar resuming its climb against the greenback.

Oil futures prices are rising today. Prices climbed yesterday helped by US government data showing a smaller than expected rise in crude supplies and a report from the International Energy Agency indicating global crude production fell for the first time in four months in August. The US Energy Information Administration said domestic crude supplies climbed by 5.9 million barrels. November Brent crude rose 1.6% to $55.16 a barrel on Wednesday on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

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