NEW YORK, Jan 23 — A gauge of stocks across the world slipped from record highs yesterday and the dollar edged up against a basket of peers as weak economic data and underwhelming earnings drove investors to reverse some recent risky bets.
Oil prices fell to end the week little changed and the dollar index posted its largest weekly drop in five weeks.
Technology stocks weighed the most on the S&P 500, with IBM and Intel posting 10 per cent and 9 per cent declines, respectively, after underwhelming earnings.
Energy stocks also fell on Wall Street, alongside the price of crude.
With stock valuations nearing levels not seen in two decades, some market participants said new Covid-19 variants and hiccups in vaccine rollouts pose near-term risks for equities.
“If we’re forced to keep the economy closed and it takes longer than we want to get through immunisations and vaccinations for the coronavirus, that’s going to be a little rougher on the market than people apparently anticipated,” said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at US Bank Wealth Management in Seattle.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.03 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 30,996.98, the S&P 500 lost 11.6 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 3,841.47 and the Nasdaq Composite added 12.15 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 13,543.06.
The three main US indexes closed higher for the week, with the Nasdaq up over 4 per cent.
The recent gains have come in hand with expectations for a near US$2 trillion (RM8 trillion) stimulus package for the American economy. Yesterday, President Joe Biden said the US economic crisis was deepening and that the government needs to take major action now to help struggling Americans.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.57 per cent yesterday after a survey showed economic activity in the euro zone shrank markedly in January, with the services sector weighed by lockdown restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.44 per cent.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.94 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.85 per cent lower, while Nikkei futures lost 0.23 per cent.
The dollar index rose 0.14 per cent, with the euro up 0.03 per cent to US$1.2166, while sterling was last trading at US$1.3683, down 0.36 per cent on the day.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.28 per cent versus the greenback at 103.78 per dollar.
Overnight data from Japan showed that factory activity slipped into contraction in January and the services sector was more pessimistic as emergency measures to combat a Covid-19 resurgence hit sentiment.
In commodities, oil prices were weighed down by a build-up in US crude inventories and by worries that new pandemic restrictions in China will curb fuel demand in the world’s biggest oil importer.
US crude fell 1.94 per cent to US$52.10 per barrel and Brent was at US$55.21, down 1.59 per cent on the day.
“The pandemic seems to continue to expand into a second wave in China, with infections rising by the day and reaching again different regions such as Shanghai,” said Rystad Energy oil markets analyst Louise Dickson.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 6/32 in price to yield 1.0872 per cent, from 1.107 per cent late on Thursday.
Spot gold dropped 0.9 per cent to US$1,853.41 an ounce. Silver fell 1.98 per cent to US$25.43.
Bitcoin last rose 9.06 per cent to US$33,610.83. — Reuters
