U.S. stocks edged lower as disappointing results from Verizon Communications Inc. to EBay Inc. overshadowed gains in health-care and American Express Co.’s best rally in seven years.
Equities wavered on a variety of influences, including corporate reports, stimulus measures from the European Central Bank, a final presidential debate before the Nov. 8 election and signs the housing market continues to bolster growth, adding to the case for higher borrowing costs. Crude fell from a 15-month high, though energy producers were little change after a stronger outlook for oil prices from the World Bank. Microsoft Corp. rallied in after-hours trading as its results beat estimates.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.1 percent to 2,141.34 at 4 p.m. in New York, trimming a morning drop that reached 0.5 percent. The benchmark closed near its average price during the past 100 days after falling below the closely watched level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 40.27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,162.35. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.1 percent. About 6.2 billion shares traded hands on U.S. exchanges, 5 percent below the three-month average.
Asian stocks were on course to end a strong week as commodity producers drove gains following Chinese data and as investors concluded that Hillary Clinton maintained an edge over Donald Trump in the last U.S. presidential debate.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent to 139.96 as of 9.11 a.m. in Tokyo, tracking a retreat in U.S. shares. Japan’s Topix index swung, with exporters advancing amid expectations corporate earnings for the September quarter may not be as bad as expected with results beginning to trickle in amid a weaker yen.
The regional benchmark gauge has climbed 1.4 percent this week with commodity producers leading the rally as data indicated Chinese economic growth is stabilizing. With investors bracing for the U.S. Federal Reserve to lift interest rates before the end of the year and a presidential election next month, companies from Microsoft Corp. to Keppel Corp. in Singapore are updating shareholders on profit performance. Odds on the Fed raising rates by December have increased by about two percentage points over the past week, to 68 percent, according to Fed funds futures tracked by Bloomberg.
Reference : Reuters
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