SP500 suffers third straight loss amid impeachment calls - 25.9.2019

Dollar weakens on deteriorating consumer confidence data

US stocks retreat deepened on Tuesday as House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared to support launching impeachment inquiry against President Trump over a phone call with the Ukrainian president. The S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 2966.62. Dow Jones industrial slid 0.5% to 26806.18. The Nasdaq dropped 1.5% to 7993.63. The dollar weakening resumed on Conference Board data showing US consumer confidence index slipped from 133.3 to 125.1, a three month low. 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, fell 0.4% to 98.34 but is higher currently. Stock index futures point to mixed openings today.

CAC 40 loss minimal among other European indexes

European stocks ended marginally higher on Tuesday despite weak data. Both the EUR/USD and GBP/USD turned higher yesterday with both pairs lower currently. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended 0.01% higher led by defensive stocks. The German DAX 30 lost 0.3% to 12307.15 after the Ifo report business climate index in Germany rose marginally in September, but the expectations component fell to a decade low. France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.04%. UK’s FTSE 100 slid 0.5% to 7291.43 as the UK Supreme Court ruled Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to shut down parliament until mid-October was unlawful.

Hang Seng leads Asian indexes losses

Asian stock indices are falling today on waning hopes for a US-China deal after President Trump criticized China in a United Nations speech saying that the United States would no longer tolerate Beijing’s trade practices of the theft of trade secrets “on a grand scale” and that he would not accept a “bad deal” with China on trade. Nikkei lost 0.4% to 22020.15 despite yen slide against the dollar. Chinese stocks are falling as Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and state councilor, said Beijing would not bow to threats, including on trade: the Shanghai Composite Index is down 0.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index is 1.3% lower. Australia’s All Ordinaries Index extended losses 0.6% despite Australian dollar’s move lower against the greenback.

Brent down

Brent futures prices are edging lower today. Prices fell yesterday on reports Saudi Arabia is making progress in restoring crude oil production following attacks on processing facilities. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday report indicated US crude inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels last week. Prices tumbled yesterday: November Brent lost 2.6% to $63.10 a barrel on Tuesday. Today at 16:30 CET the Energy Information Administration will release US Crude Oil Inventories.