Stocks on major world markets dipped along with the US dollar and US Treasury yields on the last day of the month as investors waited for signals on infrastructure spending and tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s Congressional address.
The global MSCI ACWI index has risen more than eight per cent since Mr Trump’s election in November on expectations for a pro-business administration but was off 0.1 per cent yesterday morning in New York as investors worried whether Mr Trump would reveal concrete plans to realise his campaign promises.
Wall Street indexes fell slightly after US fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth was unchanged. Some investors had hoped for an upward revision, according to Scott Colyer, chief executive officer of Advisors Asset Management based in Monument, Colorado.
“The markets are very quiet right now waiting for some specifics on how much the president is going to ask for and how much he and his Congress can deliver, which is another story altogether,” said Mr Colyer.
“It will be clearer tomorrow than it is today. At least, people are anticipating that.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10.35 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 20,827.09, the S&P 500 lost 3.58 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 2,366.17 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 23.33 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,838.57.
In comparison some upbeat company earnings helped in Europe. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of major companies was up 0.18 per cent, snapping a three-day dip and consolidating a 2.6 per cent gain for the month.
The US dollar, was down 0.3 per cent against a basket of major peers. It rallied to a 14-year high soon after the US election but is down year-to-day in the absence of specific plans on Mr Trump’s key promises.
Mr Trump met US state governors at the White House on Monday and said he sees “big” infrastructure spending and is seeking a “historic” increase in military spending of more than 9.0 per cent.
Yields on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes were last at 2.347 per cent, down two basis points from late Monday as investors were cautious ahead of the speech..
“People need more concrete evidence about the fiscal side of the equation,” said Charles Comiskey, head of Treasuries trading at Bank of Nova Scotia in New York.
In commodity markets, oil futures dipped with OPEC-led output cuts offset by increasing crude production from the United States.
Brent crude was down 0.9 per cent at $55.44 a barrel while US crude was down 1 per cent at $53.49.
Gold steadied and was up 0.4 per cent at $1258.04 an ounce.
On Monday it had hit a 3-1/2 month high intraday but ended lower.