Global stocks trade in mixed manner as investors remain cautious
Wall Street stocks finished mixed on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite closing higher as Treasury yields retreated from fresh multi-year highs. The tech-heavy index added 0.27% after the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield ticked down from above the 5% handle that was derailed for the first time since July 2007. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones slipped 0.58% and the S&P 500 gave up 0.17%. in individual stocks, Chevron plunged 3.7% following news that the company agreed to buy Hess for $53 billion in stock. Chevron has offered 1.025 of its shares for each Hess share held, or $171 per share.
Similarly, Asian stocks were mixed during the session on Tuesday as investors digested volatility spikes in bond markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell initially after PMI data showed that Japanese manufacturing activity shrank more than expected this month. However, the index bounced eventually to finish 0.3% higher. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.19%, South Korea’s Kospi reversed higher after early losses to add more than 1%. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.95%, while the Shanghai Composite advanced 0.78%.
In Europe, stock markets opened slightly higher on Tuesday, with investors looking indecisive amid bond market volatility and geopolitical concerns. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index edged 0.1% higher at the open, with mining stocks leading gains. On the data front, Germany’s manufacturing PMI came in at 40.7 in October, as against the 40.0 forecast and last month’s 39.6. On the negative side, services PMI fell from 50.3 in September to 48.0 in October versus the expected reading of 50.0.
The dollar, meanwhile, has been losing ground since the start of the week as demand weakened amid the recent retreat in Treasury yields from fresh long-term tops. Also, the safe-haven greenback suffers from some improvement in risk sentiment across the financial markets. The USD index is now back below the 106.00 figure, holding around one-month lows in the 105.35 zone. A failure to hold above this region would pave the way towards the 105.00 handle. However, the downside potential looks limited at this stage.
