Sterling Rises After UK Inflation Figures, Walmart Downgrades Its Earnings Outlook
August 19, 2015 6:45 am
US stocks retreated on Tuesday, hurt by poor corporate earnings from retail giant Wal-mart, a drop in commodity stocks and the slowdown in China’s economy. Asian shares collapsed to two year lows in the previous session as Chinese stocks continued their downward spiral due to growth fears for the world’s second largest economy. The Dow fell to 17,511, the S&P500 to 2,096.
A potential rate rise as early as next month held the Dollar firm against a basket of major currencies, with the Euro trading at $1.1052, moving off a one week low of $1.1016 hit on Tuesday. The Aussie Dollar hit a one week low of $0.7314 before edging up slightly to trade around the $0.7333 level. Sterling held steady at $1.5669. It had set a seven-week high of $1.5717 on Tuesday after UK inflation data bolstered bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates in coming months.
U.S. crude futures slid 0.6% at $42.38 per barrel, within touching distance of 6-1/2-year low of $41.35 hit on Friday. Brent crude was down 0.5% at $48.56 a barrel and in sight of 6-1/2-month troughs. Concerns about slowing demand from China for commodities also hit copper prices, which hit a six-year low of $4,983 a tonne, breaking the psychological $5,000 level. It last traded around $5,012.00 a tonne.
Wal-Mart slashed its earnings outlook for the year in yesterday’s earnings report, citing the causes as being a wage hike for its half a million strong workforce as well as its continued expansion into online retail. The stock closed down by 3.37% yesterday.
US stocks retreated on Tuesday, hurt by poor corporate earnings from retail giant Wal-mart, a drop in commodity stocks and the slowdown in China’s economy. Asian shares collapsed to two year lows in the previous session as Chinese stocks continued their downward spiral due to growth fears for the world’s second largest economy. The Dow fell to 17,511, the S&P500 to 2,096.
A potential rate rise as early as next month held the Dollar firm against a basket of major currencies, with the Euro trading at $1.1052, moving off a one week low of $1.1016 hit on Tuesday. The Aussie Dollar hit a one week low of $0.7314 before edging up slightly to trade around the $0.7333 level. Sterling held steady at $1.5669. It had set a seven-week high of $1.5717 on Tuesday after UK inflation data bolstered bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates in coming months.
U.S. crude futures slid 0.6% at $42.38 per barrel, within touching distance of 6-1/2-year low of $41.35 hit on Friday. Brent crude was down 0.5% at $48.56 a barrel and in sight of 6-1/2-month troughs. Concerns about slowing demand from China for commodities also hit copper prices, which hit a six-year low of $4,983 a tonne, breaking the psychological $5,000 level. It last traded around $5,012.00 a tonne.
Wal-Mart slashed its earnings outlook for the year in yesterday’s earnings report, citing the causes as being a wage hike for its half a million strong workforce as well as its continued expansion into online retail. The stock closed down by 3.37% yesterday.
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