Disappointing earnings on Wall Street yesterday brought the major stock markets broadly lower, with U.S. stocks ending between 0.3 and 0.5 percent lower on Tuesday. Apple lead the decline with a 2 percent loss, its third straight quarter of YOY revenue declines, despite iPhone sales that were better than expected. Asian shares seemed to embrace the black cloud, with the MSCI Asia-Pacific index shedding 0.6 percent on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.2 percent as was China’s Shanghai Composite. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.6 percent. Australia’s ASX 200 index lead the losses with a 1.55 percent decline in early trading due to a slide in oil prices and losses in the banking sector.
Oil prices ended down more than 1 percent on Tuesday and continued their decline on Wednesday. U.S. crude futures fell 1. 4 percent to $49.30 on Wednesday, a loss of 3.1 percent for the week thus far, while Brent fell 1.06 percent to $50.25 per barrel. The stronger dollar and reports of inventories rising three times more than expected were the main causes for these fluctuations.
Looking Ahead
Investors are now looking towards U.S. third quarter GDP data which will be out this Friday. The dollar neared three month highs on Tuesday and continued higher on Wednesday, hitting 104.295 yen. The pound fell 0.2 percent to $1.2164, up from Tuesday’s lows after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney made comments that dimmed expectations for additional stimulus in the near future. The euro traded flat during Wednesday’s Asian session at $1.0889.
According to the latest FedWatch report investors now have a 78 percent expectation for a Fed rate hike come December, the highest expectation since February 1.