ALBAWABA – Stocks worldwide slid on Thursday as multiple major companies reported disappointing earnings in the third quarter of 2023, while the United States (US) dollar rose and oil prices slipped on higher-than-expected US inventories.
Europe’s Stoxx 600 index dropped more than 1%, extending the negative tone seen on Wall Street overnight, according to Bloomberg.
Contracts for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index also slumped 1.3% and the S&P 500 retreated 0.8%. Meanwhile, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was set for its lowest in almost a year.
Oil prices also fell after a rise in US crude stockpiles and a climb in the dollar index, giving up some of the grounds gained a day earlier when prices jumped on Middle East tensions, Reuters reported.
Brent crude futures declined by $0.67 to $89.46 a barrel at 0630 GMT, according to Reuters, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures eased $0.71 to $84.68 a barrel.
Benchmark oil contracts had settled nearly 2% higher on Wednesday but fell back after the Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli authorities agreed to delay an expected invasion of Gaza for now.
Oil prices slide on a stronger US dollar and lower demand - Shutterstock
US inventories climbed by 1.4 million barrels in the latest week to 421.1 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration, exceeding a 240,000-barrel gain expected by Reuters analysts.
Combined with a stronger US dollar, higher stockpiles mean lower demand, which weighs on oil prices globally.
In the meantime, treasury yields held Wednesday’s surge, which was triggered by poor demand for the sale of five-year notes, Bloomberg reported. A return of rising oil prices in the previous session helped send 10-year yields back toward 5%.
The US dollar strengthened against major currencies, with a Bloomberg gauge of the greenback climbing toward a one-year high seen earlier this month.
Higher Treasury yields pushed the yen past 150 per dollar again, increasing the risk of intervention from the authorities in Tokyo.
Wall Street grappled with disappointing corporate earnings that sent stocks lower, driven by Meta Inc.’s uncertain earnings outlook and Alphabet Inc.’s worse-than-expected cloud figures.
