The Japanese economy contracted at a 5.1% annual pace in the first quarter
Wall Street stocks were mixed overnight, with the Nasdaq rising 0.49% due to a rally in Biogen stocks by nearly 40% on the news that the Food and Drug Administration granted approval to the drug developed by the company for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. In a knee-jerk reaction to the announcement, Biogen stocks soared more than 50% before closing 38.3% higher, at their highest closing level in over six years. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones finished 0.08% and 0.36% lower on Monday.
In Asia, equities were mostly lower on Tuesday, with the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney bucking the trend. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.19% after Japan reported that its economy contracted at a 5.1% annual pace in the first quarter, revised upward from the earlier reported 6.3% contraction. China’s Shanghai Composite lost 0.54% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished just 0.02% lower.
European stocks opened nearly unchanged before turning marginally positive in recent trading, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index rising 0.2%. on the negative side, data showed German industrial output fell unexpectedly in April. German ZEW economic sentiment arrived at 79.8 in June, down from 84.4 previous. Meanwhile, the final data showed that the Eurozone economy contracted 0.3% in the first quarter versus the -0.6% second estimate.
The euro came back under some selling pressure on Tuesday amid a stronger dollar and mostly downbeat economic updates out of Europe. The pair failed to regain the 1.2200 figure yesterday to dip back below the 20-DMA in recent trading. So far, the pair derives support from the 1.2165 area but could see deeper losses in the short term if the greenback manages to stay afloat.
