A round-up of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks have finished solidly lower after a volatile session following mixed earnings that included strong results from General Motors and disappointing figures from Yahoo.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 17,170.21, down 46.90 points (0.27 per cent).
The broad-based S&P 500 fell 11.76 (0.58 per cent) to 2,019.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 40.85 (0.84 pe rcent) to 4,840.12.
GM climbed 5.8 per cent after third-quarter net income translated to $US1.50 per share, much above the $US1.19 forecast by analysts.
But Yahoo fell 5.2 per cent as the technology company reported net income that translated to US15 cents per share, two cents below analyst expectations.
LONDON – European stock markets have made marginal gains, as traders awaited a key policy meeting of the European Central Bank.
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London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.05 per cent to close at 6,348.42 points.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 rose 0.89 per cent to 10,238.10 points and the Paris CAC 40 stood 0.46 per cent ahead at 4,695.10.
The euro rose to $US1.1344 from $US1.1322 on Tuesday in New York.
“The risk is for euro gains if the ECB fails to point to further stimulus in the coming months,” said Phil McHugh, trading floor manager at Currencies Direct.
“However, (ECB chief) Mario Draghi will also be eager for the euro not to strengthen too much beyond current levels, so we could be in for more mixed signals.”
Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting comes as falling eurozone prices turn up the heat on the ECB to prevent the single currency area from slipping into a dangerous deflationary spiral.
HONG KONG – A fall in Japanese exports to China in September has fanned expectations that Tokyo will unveil fresh stimulus, putting pressure on the yen and helping the country’s main stock market lead most Asian equity markets higher.
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Japan’s official data showed shipments to China slipped 3.5 per cent in September, Japanese data showed, while those to other Asian countries were also down. Export volume to the key US market was also down.
“Exports are weak across the board and that trend is expected to continue for the time being,” said Taro Saito, a senior researcher at NLI Research Institute.
“While exports to Asia and China are weak, more importantly volumes to the US are slowing.”
Analysts said the news will fan calls for the BoJ to ramp up its already massive bond-buying scheme aimed at inflating the Japanese economy.
“Whenever we get negative economic news, hopes for additional monetary easing move the market,” Takashi Aoki, a fund manager at Mizuho Asset Management Co, told Bloomberg News.
“We’re starting to see hard evidence for our fears about the global economy being weak.”
Shanghai reversed earlier gains to end more than three per cent lower.
Seoul edged up 0.18 per cent by the close and Sydney rose 0.24 per cent. There were also gains in Singapore, Jakarta, Wellington and Manila.
Hong Kong was closed for a public holiday.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 22.76 points, 0.4 per cent, to 5918.25.
– AAP
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