Dow and S&P Slump as Fed Hike Speculation Circulates,Rio Tinto Predicts Slump in Iron Ore Production
March 11, 2015 7:15 am
Asian stocks skidded to a two-month low on Wednesday as nervous markets recoiled on worries about an earlier U.S. interest rate hike, a prospect that sent the Dollar to a 12-year high against the Euro. U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday, giving the S&P 500 its biggest decline in two months, with rumours circulating that the Federal Reserve may raise rates as soon as June. The Dow collapsed by 332 points to close at 17,662, the S&P500 dropped by 35 points, its biggest daily decline since Jan 5th.
In Currencies, the Euro fetched $1.0689 after touching a 12-year trough of $1.0665. Downward pressure on the Common Currency increased after the European Central Bank kicked of its quantitative easing program and began its bond-buying on Monday. The Dollar was steady at 121.285 Yen, pulled down from an eight-year high of 122.04 scaled overnight as the broad slide in equities favoured the safe-haven Japanese currency. Hit by the Greenback’s broad strength and soft Chinese data, the Australian Dollar fell to a six-year low of $0.7588.
U.S. crude was up 1.3% at $48.91 a barrel after falling 3.4 percent the previous day.
Global miner Rio Tinto has announced its expectation that some 85m tonnes of iron ore capacity may be taken out of the world market in 2015 because a price slump has made it too costly to produce, on top of an estimated 125 million tonnes last year. Iron ore dropped below $60 a tonne which makes it very difficult for producers to make margin below that level. Rio’s stock was at 2822p per share in early trade.
Asian stocks skidded to a two-month low on Wednesday as nervous markets recoiled on worries about an earlier U.S. interest rate hike, a prospect that sent the Dollar to a 12-year high against the Euro. U.S. stocks dropped on Tuesday, giving the S&P 500 its biggest decline in two months, with rumours circulating that the Federal Reserve may raise rates as soon as June. The Dow collapsed by 332 points to close at 17,662, the S&P500 dropped by 35 points, its biggest daily decline since Jan 5th.
In Currencies, the Euro fetched $1.0689 after touching a 12-year trough of $1.0665. Downward pressure on the Common Currency increased after the European Central Bank kicked of its quantitative easing program and began its bond-buying on Monday. The Dollar was steady at 121.285 Yen, pulled down from an eight-year high of 122.04 scaled overnight as the broad slide in equities favoured the safe-haven Japanese currency. Hit by the Greenback’s broad strength and soft Chinese data, the Australian Dollar fell to a six-year low of $0.7588.
U.S. crude was up 1.3% at $48.91 a barrel after falling 3.4 percent the previous day.
Global miner Rio Tinto has announced its expectation that some 85m tonnes of iron ore capacity may be taken out of the world market in 2015 because a price slump has made it too costly to produce, on top of an estimated 125 million tonnes last year. Iron ore dropped below $60 a tonne which makes it very difficult for producers to make margin below that level. Rio’s stock was at 2822p per share in early trade.
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