US stocks inch lower as Trump tweets US will solve North Korea "problem"
US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as investors shied away from risky assets with no resolution in rising geopolitical tensions over North Korea and Syria in sight. The dollar continued weakening : 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, ended 0.3% lower at 100.706. Dow Jones industrial average slipped less than 0.1% to 20651.44. The S&P 500 declined 0.1% settling at 2353.78 led by technology and financial stocks. The Nasdaq index lost 0.2% to 5866.77.
European stocks slide despite positive data
European stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday as French election uncertainty and geopolitical tensions undermined market sentiment. Both the euro and British Pound inched higher against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 slid 0.02% paring earlier losses, Germany's DAX 30 underperformed closing 0.5% lower at 12139.35. France's CAC 40 lost 0.1% while UK's FTSE 100 outperformed gaining 0.2% to 7365.50.
Asian stocks mixed as North Korea warns of a nuclear attack
Asian stock indices are lower today on lower risk appetite as US air carrier group sails toward the Korean peninsula and North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of aggression. Nikkei lost 1.0% to 18552.61 more than four-month low as yen hit five-month high against the dollar. Chinese shares are higher as inflation inched 0.1 percentage point higher to 0.9% in April and the slowdown in producer prices was less than expected with PPI up 7.6% after 7.8% gain in March. Shanghai Composite Index is up 0.2% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is down 0.7%. Australia's ASX All Ordinaries is up 0.3% lifted by commodity stocks as Australian dollar edged higher against the dollar.
Oil prices rise ahead of inventory data
Oil futures prices are extending gains today to six-day winning streak supported by news Saudi Arabia told officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that it wants to extend major oil producers' agreement to cut crude production for another six months when OPEC meets in May. Prices closed higher on Tuesday, with June Brent crude closing 0.5% higher at $56.23 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories. Analysts of S&P Global Platts forecast a 125 thousand barrels rise in crude inventories.