A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks opened lower on Wednesday a day after a burst of buying sent markets higher on the promising first results of the corporate earnings season.
Glum trading in Europe, still struggling with the eurozone’s sovereign debt crisis, kept a cloud over Wall Street.
In the first 10 minutes of trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.71 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 12,416.76.
The broader S&P 500 lost 3.85 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 1,288.25 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.07 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 2,701.43.
LONDON – Europe’s stock markets drifted lower and the euro struck a new 16-month low on Wednesday after mixed German economic growth data on the eve of key bond auctions and interest rate decisions in Britain and the eurozone.
At close, London’s FTSE index of leading companies fell 0.45 per cent at 5,670.82 points.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index lost 0.19 per cent to 3,204.83 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 dropped 0.17 per cent to 6,152.34 points.
Elsewhere in Europe, Madrid fell by 0.55 per cent, Lisbon by 0.83 per cent and Zurich by 0.71 per cent. Milan rose by 0.25 per cent.
The euro dropped to $US1.2662 ($A1.23), a low-point since September 2010, before recovering some ground to $1.2684, still down from $1.2775 in New York late Tuesday. The dollar gained slightly to 76.91 from 76.80 yen on Tuesday.
Germany’s economy grew by a robust 3.0 per cent last year but the eurozone debt crisis threw Europe’s biggest economy into reverse in the final months, official data showed on Wednesday.
Investors also digested the latest bond auction in Germany, ahead of auctions in Italy and Spain on Thursday.
Italy’s borrowing costs remain stubbornly above the seven-per cent mark seen as unsustainable.
Markets were also looking ahead to interest rate decisions from the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB).
Germany paid a record low rate at an auction of five-year bonds on Wednesday amid huge demand, suggesting nervous investors are flocking to the nation’s safe-haven status to shelter from the eurozone debt crisis.
It received bids for nearly nine billion euros ($A11.20 billion) for the four billion euros of its five-year bond offered.
The average yield, or rate of return on the bond was 0.90 per cent, said the German Finance Agency, which organised the sale. It was the first time the yield has dropped below the one-per cent mark.
HONG KONG – Asian shares were mostly higher after another Wall Street rally on positive corporate earnings and upbeat US sentiment, although ongoing European debt woes continue to weigh.
Markets and the euro were given some support by news that ratings agency Fitch was not planning to strip France of its top triple-A rating for 2012, easing persistent concerns over Europe’s fiscal woes.
Tokyo closed up 0.30 per cent, or 25.62 points, at 8,447.88 and Sydney added 0.85 per cent, or 35.3 points, to close at 4,187.5 while Hong Kong was 0.78 per cent higher, adding 147.66 points to end at 19,151.94.
However, Seoul shed 0.41 per cent, falling 7.67 points to close at 1,845.55 and Shanghai slipped 0.42 per cent, or 9.69 points, to 2,276.05 following two sessions that saw it add more than five per cent.
Singapore climbed 1.00 per cent, or 27.30 points, to 2,747.13.
WELLINGTON – Wellington gained 0.26 per cent, or 8.52 points, to 3,236.53.
Air New Zealand jumped 1.14 per cent to NZ$0.89, Fletcher Building added 1.03 per cent to NZ$5.86 and Telecom was 1.48 per cent off at NZ$2.00.
