By IFCMarkets
US stocks pull back
US stock market pulled back on Tuesday as the House of Representatives passed the tax bill. The dollar weakened further despite rising housing starts: 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, fell 0.3% to 93.483. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 2681.47 led by real estate and utility shares. Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.2% to 24754.75. The Nasdaq composite index fell 0.4% to 6963.85.
Equities pulled back after Monday rally to record highs on hopes the tax bill will be approved before the year end. House Republicans will vote on the tax bill a second time today after its passage Tuesday as legislators found that three provisions in the approved tax bill break a rule which restricts what can be included in budget legislation. The positive economic news was shrugged off by markets: November housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.297 million compared to 1.29 million in October. However building permits fell 1.4% to a 1.298 million rate. And US current account deficit fell 19% to $100.6 billion in third quarter.
European stocks fall as German sentiment slips
European stocks retraced lower on Tuesday weighed by declining German business sentiment. Both the euro andBritish Pound extended gains against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.4%. Both the German DAX 30 and France’sCAC 40 dropped 0.7%. However UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1% to 7554.09. Markets opened mixed today.
Negative economic data undermined investors confidence: the Ifo business climate index, a leading indicator for economic activity in Europe’s largest economy, dropped to 117.2 in December, down from 117.6 in November.
Asian markets mixed
Asian stock indices are mixed today. Nikkei rose 0.1% to 22891.72 as yen fell against the dollar. Chinese stocks are lower: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 0.2% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index rose 0.1% with Australian dollar steady against the greenback.
Oil higher on expected US crude draw
Oil futures prices are edging higher today on expected US crude inventory drawdown. The American Petroleum Institute industry group reported late Tuesday US crude stocks fell by 5.2 million barrels to 438.7 million. Prices rose yesterday supported by North Sea pipeline outage: February Brent rose 0.6% to $63.80 a barrel Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.
Market Analysis provided by IFCMarkets
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