The yen lost ground against the US dollar yesterday amid speculation Japan could expand its monetary stimulus soon, while a drop in Apple shares weighed down Wall Street.
US oil prices slid, after earlier hitting six-month highs, on signs of another storage build.
US Treasury prices fell before the government was due to sell $15 billion in new long-dated bonds.
Major US stock indexes fell, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq the biggest loser, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst stocks index shed 0.6 per cent. Stocks had posted sharp declines on Wednesday following a strong rally a day earlier.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 61.23 points, or 0.35 per cent, at 17,649.89, the S&P 500 was down 8.83 points, or 0.43 per cent, at 2,055.63 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 47.54 points, or one per cent, to 4,713.15.
Apple shares fell 2.5 per cent, and were the biggest drag on all three major indexes.
Shares of department store operator Kohl’s were the biggest decliners on the benchmark S&P 500 after a surprise drop in sales, a day after disappointing results from Macy’s dragged on retailers.
Data showed the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week to the highest in more than a year, raising further concerns about the health of the labour market.
European stocks fell in choppy trading, weighed by some disappointing results, including from Dutch insurer Aegon and French bank Credit Agricole.
MSCI’s global gauge of stocks fell 0.5 per cent. The index is off about one per cent for 2016, with stocks rebounding after a rough start to the year but little changed in recent weeks. Concerns about the global economy persist and investors are responding to diverging policies between the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks
The yen fell 0.3 per cent against the dollar, pressured by speculation the Bank of Japan could expand its monetary stimulus as soon as next month.
Against a basket of currencies including the yen, the dollar gained 0.2 per cent
US oil prices dipped after jumping to six-month highs when buying driven by a forecast for tighter global supplies gave way to selling on signs of another storage build at the hub for US crude futures.
Brent crude was down 70 cents, or 1.5 per cent, at $46.90 per barrel, after rising 52 cents at one point. US crude’s WTI was down 50 cents, or one per cent, at $45.73. It hit a six-month high of $47.02 earlier.
Oil prices have recovered some ground after touching 12-year lows earlier in 2016.
US Treasury prices fell as the government was due to sell 30-year bonds, the final sale of $62 billion in new coupon-bearing supply this week. The US government saw very strong demand for a sale of 10-year notes on Wednesday and of three-year notes on Tuesday.
Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 5/32 in price to yield 1.7464 per cent, up from 1.73 per cent late on Wednesday.