A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Wall Street has ended the first quarter with a whimper after a month-long rally that rescued the S&P 500 from its worst start to a year since 2009.
Worries about a troubled global economy caused a steep selloff in stocks in January, before a rebound in plummeting oil prices cleared the way for a seven-per cent recovery the S&P through March that has left the index up one per cent for 2016.
But Thursday’s trading was subdued, with all three major indexes edging lower after three days of gains, even as some fund managers snapped up stocks ahead of the end of the end of March and the quarter.
“A lot of people are trying to hold the market up here because it’s going to give everyone a break,” said Phil Blancato, head of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management in New York.
“We were under immense pressure in January and February to warrant our existence. Clients are going to start getting frustrated by muted returns from equities and fixed income.”
Data on Thursday showed US jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week but remained well below the 300,000 mark, denoting a healthy labor market.
Friday’s critical US non-farm payrolls report will provide investors a clearer reading on the economy.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 31.57 points, or 0.18 per cent at 17,685.09 points and the S&P 500 had lost 4.21 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 2,059.74.
The Nasdaq Composite was flat, edging up just 0.55 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 4,869.85.
LONDON – European shares fell after solid gains in the previous session, with French telecoms and Italian banks underperforming.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell one per cent. The index had risen 1.3 per cent in the previous session after Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s call for caution in raising US interest rates buoyed global stock markets.
Stefan de Schutter, portfolio manager at Alpha Trading in Frankfurt, said the market was consolidating recent gains due to the lack of fresh triggers which could come next week when US companies give a start to the earnings season.
The FTSEurofirst has recovered from lows reached in February but is still down by almost eight per cent since the start of 2016.
Concerns about a slowdown in China, the world’s second-biggest economy, have hit world stock markets and commodity prices.
The FTSE 100 closed down 28.27 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 6,174.90.
HONG KONG – Asian shares edged up to a four-month high as receding worries of near-term US interest rate rises continued to buoy investors’ appetite for riskier assets.
But spreadbetters forecast a slightly lower open for Britain’s FTSE, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC, with sliding crude oil prices expected to prevent European stocks from extending the previous day’s rally.
Markets were still gripped by cautious comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen earlier in the week on monetary tightening.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 per cent, briefly reaching its highest since early December.
The index was poised to eke out a gain of one per cent this quarter, which saw equities rocked earlier by global growth worries, and particularly for the Chinese economy.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.2 per cent, on track for an 11 per cent loss on the quarter as the yen firmed against the flagging US dollar.
Shanghai shares climbed 0.5 per cent, en route to a quarterly drop of about 15 per cent.
Risk appetite has increased since Fed Chair Yellen said the US central bank should proceed cautiously as it looks to raise rates, pushing back against some colleagues who have suggested another move may be just around the corner.
“Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech earlier this week is still dragging the dollar down, sparking risk appetite globally,” said Kim Moon-il, a foreign exchange analyst at Eugene Futures in Seoul.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX gained 38.26 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 6,752.42.
