A gauge of global equity performance scaled fresh record highs yesterday, propelled by bullish growth and company earnings outlooks, while crude oil prices rose to more than two-year highs.
Asia again led global markets higher, as Hong Kong's main Hang Seng index closed above 30,000 points for the first time in a decade. China's H-shares index and Japan's Nikkei share average also rose.
Shares in Europe were mixed, with Britain's main index rising as Germany's DAX index and other indices fell. Wall Street traded flat to slightly lower. But MSCI's all-country world index of stock performance in 47 countries rose 0.23 per cent as it set a new all-time high. Emerging markets also rose, with MSCI's main equity benchmark touching fresh six-year highs.
MSCI's all-country world index gained 0.21 per cent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading regional shares closed down 0.25 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 47.05 points, or by 0.2 per cent, to 23,543.78. The S&P 500 lost 2.17 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 2,596.86, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.73 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 6,861.75. The S&P technology index fell 0.36 per cent after two days of gains, pulled lower by an 8.2 per cent drop in Hewlett Packard Enterprise after Meg Whitman said that she would leave as chief executive in February. The decision by Whitman, a high-profile US executive, took Wall Street by surprise and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged lower.
But the US equity market is poised for “smooth sailing” through year-end, even as the ebullient mood on Wall Street signals trouble later in 2018, said Doug Ramsey, chief investment officer at The Leuthold Group in Minneapolis.
But the broad equity advance, with few lagging sectors, suggests the bull market still has room to run, Mr Ramsey said.
“The odds that we’ll be at higher highs three to four months from now are very high, though it doesn’t rule some short-term setback,” he added.
Oil retreated slightly from a more than two-year high after US crude stockpiles fell less than an industry group had suggested on Tuesday.
Still, US crude prices remained elevated near $58 a barrel after sources said the Keystone pipeline will cut deliveries by 85 per cent or more through the end of November.
US crude rose $1.06 per cent to $57.89 a barrel, and Brent was last up 44 cents at $63.01 a barrel.
The dollar fell, touching its lowest level in more than a month against the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc after the release of weaker-than-expected US data and inflation expectations.