Global stock markets mostly retreated Tuesday, two days before a British general election and congressional testimony from fired former FBI chief James Comey.
Britons head to the polls on Thursday, the same day the European Central Bank (ECB) will announce its latest interest rate decision, and Comey will face a congressional panel probing the connection between President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia.
“There has been a clear shift into haven trades to protect against any fireworks following key events on Thursday,” said market analyst Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group, noting that gold hit a 2017 high above $1.295 an ounce and the Japanese yen pushed below 110 to the US dollar.
“The market might be a little on edge” ahead of Thursday, said Bill Lynch, director of investment at Hinsdale Associates, who added that there was little significant economic data for the market to focus on Tuesday.
Paris’s CAC 40 gave up 0.7 percent, while Frankfurt fell 1.0 percent as German investors returned from a long holiday weekend.
In New York, the S&P 500 lost 0.3 percent.
While London’s main FTSE 100 stock index ended the day flat, the larger FTSE 250 shed nearly 1.1 percent amid recent tightening in opinion polls between Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May and main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“Investors appear to be shunning UK domestic shares before the election,” Lawler said.
“The UK parliamentary election on Thursday may turn out to be a closer race than expected just a few weeks ago,” noted Richard Falkenhall, senior foreign exchange strategist at Swedish banking group SEB.
Asian equities also struggled as investors nervously await the week’s key political events.
There also are concerns on trading floors that Trump’s economy-boosting agenda — big infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation — could be derailed if the Russia probe mushrooms into a bigger story. Stimulus hopes helped drive a months-long global markets rally after his election.
Among major losers on the day in Europe was Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, its share price diving 5.5 percent after a major clinical trial of a new anti-cancer medicine cocktail showed only a modest gain in survival rates — at a cost per patient of some $70,000.
Macy’s sank 8.2 percent after executives warned at an investor day of lower profit margins in the current quarter and year. Other retailers also were pulled lower, including Wal-Mart Stores, which lost 1.7 percent and Nordstrom, which tumbled 3.6 percent.
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 21,136.23 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.3 percent at 2,429.33 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.3 percent at 6,275.06 (close)
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2910 from $1.2905 at 2100 GMT on Monday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1278 from $1.1254
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.42 yen from 110.47 yen
Oil – Brent North Sea: UP 65 cents at $50.12 per barrel
Oil – West Texas Intermediate: UP 79 cents at $48.19 per barrel
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