MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe declined 0.38 point, or 0.04 per cent, to 845.49
MSCI’s global equities index was down slightly on Wednesday while the dollar gained and oil prices pared earlier gains, as investors digested U.S. economic data and watched developments in the Middle East.
Oil prices gained on concerns that further escalation in the Middle East could threaten oil supplies from the world’s top producing region, but gains were limited by a large build in U.S. crude inventories.
The dollar reached a three-week high against the euro after the ADP national employment report showed U.S. private payrolls increased more than expected in September ahead of Friday’s highly anticipated jobs data.
Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose after the data pointed to a stable labour market while investors monitored Middle East hostilities.
The markets are still bracing for any other geopolitical developments and settling a little after yesterday, said Matt Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management.
Looking at the private payrolls data, Miskin said “the bond market is looking at the next Fed meeting and saying we are probably not going to get a 50 bp cut.”
A strike by 45,000 dockworkers halting shipments at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports entered its second day on Wednesday with no negotiations currently scheduled between the two sides, sources told Reuters.
On Wall Street, the DJIA gained 39.55 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 42,196.52; the S&P 500 added 0.79 point, or 0.01 per cent, to 5,709.54; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 14.76 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 17,925.12.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe declined 0.38 point, or 0.04 per cent, to 845.49. Earlier the STOXX Europe 600 index closed up 0.05 per cent at 521.14.
