MARKET COMMENTARY
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks pared losses late in the session to close mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280 points (-0.87%) to 31,874, the S&P 500 fell 27 points (-0.70%) to 3,891, while the Nasdaq 100 closed 51 points higher (+0.42%) at 12,251.
Fears of a banking crisis was reignited by problems at Credit Suisse, which disclosed "weakness" in its financial reporting. The bank's share price once plunged by up to 30% on Wednesday after Saudi National Bank, its largest shareholder, said it could not provide further support. Later in the day, Swiss financial regulator and central bank issued a joint statement saying Credit Suisse could access liquidity from the central bank if needed.
U.S. economic data showed that retail sales fell 0.4% on month in February (vs -0.2% expected), and producer prices unexpectedly declined 0.1% on month in February (vs +0.4% expected). The New York State manufacturing index fell to -24.6 for March (vs -7.0 expected).
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield sank 23.1 basis points to 3.459%.
Energy (-5.42%), insurance (-3.69%), and banks (-3.62%) sectors lost the most.
Shares of large banks were impacted by uncertainty concerning Credit Suisse. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell 4.72%, Citigroup (C) dropped 5.44%, and Morgan Stanley (MS) was down 5.09%.
Meanwhile, investment brokerage group Charles Schwab (SCHW) gained 5.06%.
Energy stocks were dragged by a 5% drop in oil prices. Halliburton (HAL) sank 9.01%, Marathon Oil (MRO) fell 8.48%, and Devon Energy (DVN) was down 8.33%.
U.S. WTI crude futures tumbled $3.70 (-5.19%) to $67.61. The U.S. Department of Energy reported an addition of 1.55 million barrels to the crude-oil stockpiles (vs +1.19 million barrels expected).
Tesla (TSLA) fell 1.53%, while Netflix (NFLX) rose 3.00%, Alphabet (GOOGL) climbed 2.28%, Microsoft (MSFT) gained 1.78%, Meta Platforms (META) rose 1.92%, and Apple (AAPL) was up 0.26%.
European stocks posted the biggest losses in over a year as bank stocks encountered a sell-off. The DAX 40 fell 3.27%, the CAC 40 declined 3.58%, and the FTSE 100 lost 3.83%.
Gold price advanced $14 to $1,918 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against other major currencies, boosted by demand for safe-haven assets. The dollar index rose to 104.74.
EUR/USD slid 157 pips (-1.46%) to 1.0576. The Eurozone's data showed that industrial production grew 0.7% on month in January (vs +0.9% expected).
USD/CHF jumped 194 pips (+2.12%) to 0.9336.
GBP/USD dropped 102 pips to 1.2056.
USD/JPY fell 85 pips to 133.37. This morning, Japan's data showed that trade deficit narrowed to 0.90 trillion yen in February (vs 1.30 trillion yen expected) with exports growing 6.5% on year (vs +5.0% expected). Machinery orders increased 9.5% on month in January (vs +1.7% expected).
AUD/USD declined 64 pips to 0.6618. This morning, Australia's data showed that employment increased by 64,600 in February (vs +51,000 expected) with the jobless rate declining to 3.5% (vs 3.6% expected).
USD/CAD climbed 81 pips to 1.3767.
Bitcoin was little changed at $24,500.
On Wednesday, U.S. stocks pared losses late in the session to close mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280 points (-0.87%) to 31,874, the S&P 500 fell 27 points (-0.70%) to 3,891, while the Nasdaq 100 closed 51 points higher (+0.42%) at 12,251.
Fears of a banking crisis was reignited by problems at Credit Suisse, which disclosed "weakness" in its financial reporting. The bank's share price once plunged by up to 30% on Wednesday after Saudi National Bank, its largest shareholder, said it could not provide further support. Later in the day, Swiss financial regulator and central bank issued a joint statement saying Credit Suisse could access liquidity from the central bank if needed.
U.S. economic data showed that retail sales fell 0.4% on month in February (vs -0.2% expected), and producer prices unexpectedly declined 0.1% on month in February (vs +0.4% expected). The New York State manufacturing index fell to -24.6 for March (vs -7.0 expected).
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield sank 23.1 basis points to 3.459%.
Energy (-5.42%), insurance (-3.69%), and banks (-3.62%) sectors lost the most.
Shares of large banks were impacted by uncertainty concerning Credit Suisse. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell 4.72%, Citigroup (C) dropped 5.44%, and Morgan Stanley (MS) was down 5.09%.
Meanwhile, investment brokerage group Charles Schwab (SCHW) gained 5.06%.
Energy stocks were dragged by a 5% drop in oil prices. Halliburton (HAL) sank 9.01%, Marathon Oil (MRO) fell 8.48%, and Devon Energy (DVN) was down 8.33%.
U.S. WTI crude futures tumbled $3.70 (-5.19%) to $67.61. The U.S. Department of Energy reported an addition of 1.55 million barrels to the crude-oil stockpiles (vs +1.19 million barrels expected).
Tesla (TSLA) fell 1.53%, while Netflix (NFLX) rose 3.00%, Alphabet (GOOGL) climbed 2.28%, Microsoft (MSFT) gained 1.78%, Meta Platforms (META) rose 1.92%, and Apple (AAPL) was up 0.26%.
European stocks posted the biggest losses in over a year as bank stocks encountered a sell-off. The DAX 40 fell 3.27%, the CAC 40 declined 3.58%, and the FTSE 100 lost 3.83%.
Gold price advanced $14 to $1,918 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar strengthened against other major currencies, boosted by demand for safe-haven assets. The dollar index rose to 104.74.
EUR/USD slid 157 pips (-1.46%) to 1.0576. The Eurozone's data showed that industrial production grew 0.7% on month in January (vs +0.9% expected).
USD/CHF jumped 194 pips (+2.12%) to 0.9336.
GBP/USD dropped 102 pips to 1.2056.
USD/JPY fell 85 pips to 133.37. This morning, Japan's data showed that trade deficit narrowed to 0.90 trillion yen in February (vs 1.30 trillion yen expected) with exports growing 6.5% on year (vs +5.0% expected). Machinery orders increased 9.5% on month in January (vs +1.7% expected).
AUD/USD declined 64 pips to 0.6618. This morning, Australia's data showed that employment increased by 64,600 in February (vs +51,000 expected) with the jobless rate declining to 3.5% (vs 3.6% expected).
USD/CAD climbed 81 pips to 1.3767.
Bitcoin was little changed at $24,500.
