New York (AFP) – Stock markets climbed but then stalled Wednesday as investors digested a wave of company earnings that broadly surpassed expectations, while assessing the chances of a US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. After pushing strongly ahead in early trading on Wall Street, momentum weakened for major US indices, with the tech-rich Nasdaq and broad-based S&P 500 finishing lower. The Dow still mustered a 0.5 percent gain, lifting it to a third straight record close.
“It’s just a case of the market taking a breather right now,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, adding that investors are still “operating with a bullish minded bias for the most part.” Oil prices also finished mixed as markets tried to parse the latest developments regarding a potential reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s foreign ministry said Iran and Oman have agreed a route for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz and are putting the final touches on arrangements for jointly managing the waterway.
But official sources briefing Iranian media stressed that any reopening of the strait would depend on the United States fulfilling what Tehran sees as its commitment to end its own naval blockade of Iran’s ports. “The factors making the Strait of Hormuz insecure still exist on the part of the United States, particularly the naval blockade and other aggressive and threatening actions against Iran and its interests,” said Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, according to state news agency IRNA.
Oil prices had fallen sharply on both Monday and Tuesday as Trump administration officials said they were close to an accord with Iran that would reopen the Hormuz Strait. “Whatever the damage to the US’ standing internationally, markets only care for now about the beneficial effect of lower oil prices, which are likely to help cool inflation and ease back the chances of Fed hikes in 2026,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.
In Europe, London ended with just a 0.1 percent rise, Paris was flat following a Tuesday record high while Frankfurt lost 0.3 percent at the close. Frankfurt and Paris had joined Madrid and Milan in hitting fresh highs earlier in the session. Earlier, Asian equities benefited from a recent revival in technology stocks after a month-long rout, tracking gains on Wall Street Tuesday that sent both the Dow and the S&P 500 to new records.
Seoul, which has been at the forefront of extreme volatility in the tech sector over the past month, added 3.8 percent, while Tokyo ended up more than three percent and Hong Kong and Shanghai also saw gains. Among individual companies, SpaceX slid 13.6 percent after Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite company posted its first quarterly earnings report as a publicly traded company. Analysts pointed to worries about SpaceX’ spending after expenditures exceeded $18 billion in the three months ending in June. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) processor and graphics solutions giant slipped around seven percent, despite beating analysts’ estimates.
– Key figures around 2020 GMT –
New York – DOW: UP 0.5 percent at 54,349.12 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,723.55 (close)
New York – NASDAQ Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 26,363.44 (close)
London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,888.30 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 8,669.30 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,126.30 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 3.7 percent at 66,300.44 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 25,915.82 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 1.5 percent at 3,878.43 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: UP 3.8 percent at 6,598.26 (close)
Dollar/yen: UP at 157.79 yen from 157.75 yen on Tuesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1549 from $1.1531
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3463 from $1.3452
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.78 pence from 85.72 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $79.45 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $75.22 per barrel
© 2024 AFP
