Stock Markets Steady Ahead of Central Bank Meetings
July 26 2016 - 4:30AM
Dow Jones News
Stocks in Europe and U.S. futures were little changed Tuesday as
investors held fire ahead of major central bank meetings this week
and the latest wave of corporate earnings results in the U.S.
The Stoxx Europe 600 inched 0.1% lower in early trade, while
futures markets pointed to a flat opening for the S&P 500 after
Wall Street pulled back from record highs Monday.
Asian markets mostly gained with the exception of Japan's Nikkei
Stock Average, which closed down 1.4% as a stronger yen weighed on
exporters. The yen was recently 1.3% higher against the dollar
after a report published Tuesday by the Nikkei business daily
suggested an eagerly-awaited fiscal stimulus package from Tokyo may
fall short of expectations. Economists expect the Bank of Japan to
unveil more monetary easing at its meeting concluding Friday.
Investors will also be watching the Federal Reserve's policy
meeting, which is scheduled to end Wednesday, for clues on whether
the bank will raise interest rates in the coming months following a
series of strong U.S. economic data.
The ICE Dollar Index was down 0.3% Tuesday after rising to its
highest level Friday since early March. The index, which measures
the greenback against a basket of currencies, tends to rise on
mounting expectations of rate rises.
Later Tuesday, investors will have a raft of U.S. corporate
earnings to digest, including McDonald's Corp. and Caterpillar
Inc., as well as Apple Inc. and Twitter Inc. after the closing
bell.
Kenan Machado contributed to this article
Write to Christopher Whittall at
christopher.whittall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2016 04:15 ET (08:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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