US stock market fell on Wednesday as investor confidence was undermined by disappointing earnings reports from Disney and retailer companies while oil rose. The dollar weakened after advancing for six straight sessions: the live dollar index data indicate the ICE US Dollar Index, a measure of the dollar’s value against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.5% to 93.807. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.2% to 17711.12 with all constituents but Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) closing in negative territory. Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) and Nike (NYSE:NKE) were the worst performers among blue chip stocks, down 4% and 3.7% respectively. The S&P 500 lost 1% and settled at 2064.46 with nine of its 10 main sectors ending lower. Retailer stocks led the decliners with Macy's (NYSE:M) and Fossil falling 15.2% and 29.1% respectively following disappointing earnings reports. Investors sold off stocks as disappointing corporate reports weighed on market sentiment which has been under stress lately due to declining corporate earnings: first quarter earnings have declined 7.5%. In other economic news the Mortgage Index of Mortgage Bankers’ Associations increased 0.4%, April Budget came in with a surplus of $106.5 billion. Today at 14:30 CET Initial Jobless Claims and Continuing Claims will be released in US. The tentative outlook is negative. At the same time April Import Price Index will be published, it is expected to rise compared to previous month. And at 16:30 CET Natural Gas Storage Change will be released by the Energy Information Agency.
European stocks ended lower on Wednesday recording first drop in three sessions. The euro strengthened, rising to $1.1427 late Wednesday in New York compared with $1.1282 late Tuesday. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed down 0.5%. A 10% drop in shares of major outdoor advertising company JC Decaux SA (PA:JCDX) on lower-than-expected revenue growth outlook of 3% weighed on the broad market index. Only the basic materials stocks ended in positive territory. Germany's DAX 30 lost 0.7% closing at 9975.32. France's CAC 40 was 0.5% lower while UK’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.1%. Today at 11:00 CET March Industrial Production will be published in euro-zone. The tentative outlook is positive. And at 13:00 CET Bank of England will release its Rate Decision. No changes in monetary policy are expected and the central bank is expected to leave the interest rate at 0.5%. Governor Carney will speak at 13:45 CET at a press conference.
Nikkei rose for the fourth straight session today closing up 0.4% as yen weakened against the dollar. However the gains were limited due to disappointing corporate reports, with Toyota Motor and Bridgestone ending 1.44% and 5.8% lower respectively. Chinese shares are erasing earlier losses after dropping to two month lows when the session opened. Losses were pared by gains in infrastructure stocks after announcement late Wednesday China will invest around 4.7 trillion yuan ($724 billion) in transport infrastructure projects over the next three years. Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.01%.
Oil futures prices are edging higher today on sings global market is tightening even as Canadian producers are increasing crude oil production in oil-sand region after disruptions last week due to wildfires. The US Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday showed an unexpected fall in US crude inventories of 3.4 million barrels to 540 million barrels last week after American Petroleum Institute reported an estimated build of 3.5 million barrels on Tuesday. July Brent crude rose 3.5% to $47.09 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange yesterday.