Muted trading as stocks worldwide dip and gold prices rise
ALBAWABA – Stocks worldwide dipped as the US dollar hovered near its lowest level in three months while gold prices surged, breaching the $2,000 threshold on Wednesday, ahead of the United States (US) Thanksgiving holiday.
Gold prices peaked at around $2,006 per ounce overnight and settled at around $2,002.26 per once, according to GoldPrice.org, as of 1546 Amman time.
The US dollar hit its lowest level in three months this week, rising marginally on Wednesday, with the Bloomberg dollar index spot at 103.6350, up 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, a gauge of Asian equities fell as artificial intelligence (AI) stocks slid following a tepid reaction from investors to Nvidia Corp.’s earnings, with Mainland Chinese shares also down.
Chipmaker Nvidia reported revenue well above Wall Street expectations after market close, but shares fell 1.7 percent due to the company's downbeat China sales outlook.
Futures for European and US stocks were little changed as trading became more muted, ahead of a holiday in Japan and Thanksgiving in the US on Thursday.
Stocks worldwide dip as gold prices soar and the US dollar hovers near lowest levels in months - Shutterstock
Treasuries were little changed in Asia after climbing Tuesday, led by the shorter end, as the greenback traded in narrow ranges against its Group-of-10 peers, Bloomberg reported.
Across the Pacific, the offshore yuan steadied after a previous rally when China’s central bank set the currency fixing at the strongest level since June. The yuan had jumped beyond the daily reference rate, according to Bloomberg, for the first time since July in the previous session.
Overall, Asian stocks backed away from a two and a half-month high on Wednesday, Reuters reported, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.54 percent.
Japan's Nikkei rose 0.29 percent on Wednesday as the S&P 500 snapped a five-session winning streak overnight and fell 0.2 percent.
Nasdaq futures were down about 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures were little changed in Asian hours.
On the other side of the Atlantic, European markets are set for a muted open, with Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.05 percent, German DAX futures 0.08 percent higher and London’s FTSE futures up 0.06 percent.
Stocks worldwide: Markets summary by Bloomberg and AFP
S&P 500 futures fell 0.1 percent as of 6:30 a.m. London time.
The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2 percent.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6 percent
Euro Stoxx 50 futures were unchanged
Japan’s Topix index rose 0.4 percent
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 percent
China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6 percent
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed
New York - DOW: DOWN 0.2 percent at 35,088.29 (close)
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,481.99 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,229.45 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 15,900.53 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.2 at 4,331.90 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.1 percent at 33,354.14 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 17,733.89 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,067.93 (close)
