Chinese stocks eased after registering their biggest daily gain in a month at the start of the week
US stocks slipped from their all-time highs after fresh economic data raised worries about how much Fed interest rates could ease this year. A report showed that manufacturing unexpectedly returned to growth in March, which could diminish the Federal Reserve’s desire to cut interest rates. As such, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.1%. Now, investors will have to wait until Friday for the closely watched US jobs report for March.
After a pullback in Wall Street stocks, Asian equities were mixed-to-higher on Tuesday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.65% higher. The Hang Seng Index was up more than 2%, South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.2% higher and the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gave up 0.11%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished just above the flat line after a brief reclaiming the 40,000 mark in the morning session. Chinese stocks eased on Tuesday after registering their biggest daily gain in a month at the start of the week.
European stocks opened higher Tuesday as investors returned to action after the Easter holiday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was 0.36% higher in early deals after finishing the first quarter of 2024 around 6.8% higher last week. On the data front, the BRC reported that the UK’s shop price inflation grew 1.3% in March, its slowest pace in more than two years. In the eurozone, March final manufacturing PMI came in at 46.1 versus the preliminary estimate of 45.7.
Meanwhile, the US dollar has steadied after a strong rally witnessed yesterday. The USD index extended gains to the 105.00 handle for the first time since mid-November, staying resilient around multi-month highs even as risk sentiment looks mostly upbeat across the financial markets. The greenback was inspired by strong economic data out of the United States, with odds of a June rate cut decreasing. The odds of a first move in June fell below 50% after a gauge of US manufacturing activity showed expansion for the first time since 2022. Should the USD index manage to hold above 105.00 in the near term, further gains could be expected.