Stocks Fall, Dollar Weakens on Lack of Clarity over Trump's Stimulus Plans
January 12 2017 - 4:19AM
Dow Jones News
By Riva Gold
Global stocks and bond yields fell Thursday while the dollar
continued to weaken as President-elect Donald Trump's news
conference rippled across markets.
The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4% in the early minutes of trading,
led lower by a 1.6% drop in health care shares. The Nasdaq
Biotechnology Index fell 3% Wednesday after Mr. Trump said
Wednesday the drug industry was "getting away with murder" and
called for "new bidding procedures."
Major U.S. stock indexes largely shook off the drop in
health-care shares to close higher Wednesday, but futures pointed
to a 0.2% opening drop for the S&P 500 on Thursday.
In currencies, the WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar
against a basket of 16 currencies, was last down 0.5%, deepening
Wednesday's declines. Analysts said Mr. Trump failed to offer more
clarity around his stimulus plans and trade policies at the news
conference, disappointing some investors who had hoped for more
details on his plans to cut taxes and reduce regulation. The yen
was last up 0.7% against the dollar, while the euro was up 0.4% and
the British pound was up 0.6%.
10-year U.S. Treasury yields also fell to 2.316% from 2.368% on
Wednesday, when it settled at its lowest of the year. German bund
yields fell to 0.223% from 0.260%. Yields move inversely to
prices.
Earlier, the weaker dollar helped send Japanese stocks--which
tend to benefit from a weaker local currency--down 1.2%. Stocks in
Shanghai fell 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index shed
0.5%.
Commodity markets remained firm as the dollar softened, with
Brent crude oil last up 0.1% at $55.17 a barrel and copper futures
up 0.7% at $5,762 a ton, helping lift shares of mining
companies.
Write to Riva Gold at riva.gold@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2017 04:04 ET (09:04 GMT)
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