Gold rose, but global equities retreated as US stocks were dragged down by a sharp drop in Apple amid a potential probe.
The investigation into Apple took the wind out of the technology sector which has propelled the US market higher in recent months. While other sectors were trading marginally in the red throughout the day, the news triggered a rapid selloff within hours.
Australian stocks look poised to open lower with futures contracts trading 59 points lower this morning. The local share market eked out a gain on Thursday with the ASX 200 rising 0.32% to 6,094.5 points.
European stocks trade steady, Asia mixed
Wall Street struggled after four days of gains as investors awaited a new US coronavirus relief package and, once again, the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose last week. This was the first increase in nearly four months and may have caught bullish investors off guard, albeit obviously not a surprise.
Overall, MSCI’s benchmark for global equity markets fell 0.72%, pulled lower by Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.31%, the S&P 500 lost 1.23% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.29%.
Earlier that day European markets traded somewhat flat with the STOXX Europe 600 index closing up just 0.06%. The FTSE 100 added a mere 0.07% while the DAX eased 0.01%.
European futures fell after market close along with US stocks.
Asian markets started the day higher but drifted gradually lower as trading progressed to close mixed. The Hang Seng managed to rise 0.82% while the Japanese Nikkei 225 Index eased 0.58%.
Chinese shares declined with the broad Shanghai Composite Index closing down 0.24% to 3,325.11.
Gold prices jumped a further 0.9% to U$1,883, swiftly approaching the US$1,900 mark.
Oil was weighed down as well as crude futures fell in unison. Crude Oil WTI futures fell 1.5% to U$41.27 a barrel.
The AUD was last quoted at $0.71 US cents.