U.S. stocks fall ahead of Fed decision
U.S. stock indices retreated on Tuesday led by declines in energy and airlines shares as oil prices slipped and flights were cancelled due to a snowstorm in North East. The dollar strength continued with traders awaiting the interest rate decision as the Fed concludes its policy meeting on Wednesday: the live dollar index data show the ICE U.S. dollar index, a measure of the dollar’s strength against a basket of six rival currencies, closed 0.3% higher at 101.719. Dow Jones industrial average closed 0.2% lower at 20837.37 led by Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares. The S&P 500 lost 0.3% settling at 2365.45. The NASDAQ index fell 0.3% to 5856.82.
European stocks slide ahead of Fed’s interest rate decision
European stocks closed lower on Tuesday following three consecutive sessions of gains as energy shares fell and investors were cautious ahead of Federal Reserve policy meeting. Both the euro and British pound weakened against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3%, while Germany’s DAX 30 slipped 1.2 points to 11988.79. France’s CAC 40 underperformed losing 0.5% and UK’s FTSE 100 ended down 0.1% at 7357.85.
Asian markets follow Wall Street lead
Asian stocks are lower today in thin trading as investors await Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. Nikkei closed 0.2% lower at 19577.38 as yen strengthened against the dollar.
Toshiba (OTC:TOSYY) shares plunged 12% on news the company is considering a bankruptcy filing for its troubled U.S. nuclear affiliate Westinghouse Electric Company and the Tokyo Stock Exchange placed Toshiba’s shares under special supervision. Chinese stocks are marginally higher after Premier Li Keqiang said China aims to cut taxes and fees for companies by 1 trillion yuan ($144.65 billion) this year: Shanghai Composite Index is 0.08% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.05%. Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.27% with the Australian dollar edging higher against the dollar.
Oil prices slip ahead of inventory data
Oil futures prices are edging lower today despite the American Petroleum Institute report U.S. stockpiles fell 531 thousand barrels. May Brent crude contract closed 0.8% lower at $50.92 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange on Tuesday. Prices fell yesterday after a monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries released Tuesday showed an increase in Saudi Arabia February output over previous month. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release U.S. Crude Oil Inventories.