S&P 500 and Dow close at fresh highs while Nasdaq slips
US stocks closed at fresh record highs on Wednesday as Federal Reserve announced the start of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet reduction in October. The dollar strengthened 0.7% to 92.441. The S&P 500 advanced less than 0.1% settling at fresh record high 2508.85 led by financial and industrial shares. The Dow Jones rose 0.2% to new record high 22412.59 with gains in McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) offsetting 1.7% drop in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, fell less than 0.1% to 6456.04.
European Stocks Slip
European stocks edged lower on Wednesday as investors awaited Federal Reserve’s decision. Both the euro and British Pound reversed previous session gains against the dollar. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.04%. Germany’s DAX 30 added 0.1% to 12569.17. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.1% while UK’s FTSE 100 lost 0.05% to 7271.95. Indices opened higher today.
Asian Stocks Lower
Asian stock indices are mostly lower today as stronger dollar after Fed’s decision weighed on commodity prices. Nikkei managed to rise 0.2% to 20347.48 as yen extended losses against the dollar with the Bank of Japan keeping policy unchanged. Chinese stocks are down: the Shanghai Composite Index is 0.3% lower and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index is down 0.04%. Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries fell 1% despite a drop in Australian dollar against the greenback.
Oil Retreats
Oil futures prices are lower today. Prices climbed yesterday helped by rising tensions between the US and Iran and expectations that OPEC will decide to extend its production cut deal. Prices ended higher despite US government data showing a bigger than expected 4.6 million barrels rise in crude supplies. November Brent crude rose 2.1% to $56.29 a barrel on Wednesday on London’s ICE Futures exchange.