The US announced restrictions on transactions with 33 Chinese organizations
Reversing course during the final hour of trading, Wall Street stocks finished lower on Monday as investors digested dismal quarterly results from Facebook owner Meta Platforms. The company’s stocks ended 5% lower overnight after a 26% plunge that caused a record plunge in its stock market value. Also, market players are nervous ahead of January’s consumer price index data due on Thursday. As such, the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained unchanged, while the S&P 500 lost 0.37% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.58%. US stock index futures were muted in early pre-market trading on Tuesday.
Asian equity markets were mixed today amid rising tensions between the US and China after the US Commerce Department announced restrictions on transactions with 33 Chinese organizations whose ownership is deemed to be “unverified”. Still, the Shanghai Composite Index lost managed to reverse early losses and finished 0.67% higher, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 1.02%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 0.13% and the Kospi in Seoul gained less than 0.1%
In Europe, stocks opened nearly unchanged on Tuesday morning, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index gaining 0.4% in early trade. In individual stocks, BP reported a strong rise in full-year net profit, its highest since 2014, amid rallying commodity prices. Elsewhere, in his latest remarks, the German health minister said the COVID-19 peak infection rate is expected around mid-February. Germany will be able to reopen some time before Easter, he added.
Meanwhile, the dollar has been retaining a bullish bias since the start of the week, with traders shifting focus to the US CPI report due later in the week. Also, an unstable risk tone adds to the upside pressure surrounding the greenback. As such, EURUSD keeps retreating from recent peaks seen marginally below the 1.1500 figure, challenging the 1.1400 zone during the European hours. Should this level give up anytime soon, the common currency will retarget the 1.1200 mark if the 20-DMA, currently at 1.1335, gives up.
