By IFCMarkets

US stock market closed lower reversing earlier gains on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s third quarter-point rate hike decision. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% to 2905.97. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4% to 26385.28. Nasdaq composite index slid 0.2% to 7990.37. The dollar strengthening resumed as the Fed signaled another rate hike in December, indicating three more in 2019: 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 0.1% to 94.274 and is rising currently. Futures on stock indices point to lower openings today.

European stocks added to previous session gains on Wednesday. Both the GBP/USD and EUR/USD turned lower and are lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.3%. Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.1% to 12385.89. France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.6% and UK’s FTSE 100 gained less than 0.1% to 7511.49. Both EUR/USD and GBP/USD are under pressure currently on reports Italy’s budget meeting scheduled for 16:00 GMT could be delayed. Markets opened 0.2% – 0.5% lower today

Asian stock indices are lower today in volatile trade as the Federal Reserve raised interest rates and indicated more policy tightening through to 2020. Nikkei ended 1% lower at 23796.74 despite reports the United States indicated it won’t impose further tariffs on Japanese cars for now while yen climb against the dollar persisted. China’s stocks are falling as country’s statistics bureau reported profit growth at China’s industrial companies decelerated in August: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is 0.4% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index however slipped 0.2% despite the Australian dollar’s turn lower against the greenback.

Brent futures prices are edging higher today after pullback yesterday following the Energy Information Administration report of increase in US crude stockpile. Domestic crude supplies rose by 1.9 million barrels while the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported an increase of 2.9 million barrels. Prices ended lower yesterday: November Brent crude fell 0.6% to $81.34 a barrel on Wednesday.

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