By IFCMarkets
US stock market edged lower on Wednesday as Congress sent Republicans’ tax bill to President Donald Trump for his signature. The dollar weakness persisted: 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 0.1% to 93.336. The S&P 500 slipped less than 0.1% to 2679.25 with losses in real estate and utilities offset by gains in energy, telecommunication and industrial shares. TheDow Jones industrial average lost 0.1% to 24726.65. Nasdaq composite index fell less than 0.1% to 6960.96.
After the Senate passed the tax bill early on Wednesday the House of Representatives voted for the second time due to a technical irregularity the day before. The bill includes a reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Markets didn’t react to positive economic data: existing home sales rose 5.6% on month in November to 5.81 million seasonally adjusted rate, the strongest reading since December 2006.
European stocks pulled back on Wednesday. The euro and British Pound continued climbing against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed 0.7% lower. Germany’s DAX 30 fell 1.1% settling at 13069.17. France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.6% and UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% to 7525.22.
The International Monetary Fund downgraded its forecast for 2017 UK growth to 1.6% from 1.7%. The lender said it expects growth to slow to 1.5% in 2018. The IMF cited UK’s last year decision to leave the European Union the reason for slower growth prospect.
Asian stock indices are mixed today. Nikkei fell 0.1% to 22727.50 despite continued yen slide against the dollar as the Bank of Japan kept its monetary policy unchanged. Chinese stocks are up as the Central Economic Work Conference concluded in China with policy makers reiterating that monetary policy will be “prudent and neutral” next year, deemphasizing a focus on deleveraging. The Shanghai Composite Index is 0.4% higher and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is up 0.6%. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index slipped 0.3% with Australian dollar little changed against the greenback.
Oil futures prices are higher today after the US Energy Information Administration report of more than expected drop in domestic crude supplies of 6.5 million barrels. Prices ended higher yesterday: February Brent crude rose 1.2% to $64.56 a barrel on Wednesday.
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