United States markets opened modestly lower on Wednesday as indexes in Europe and China recovered from a slump the previous day.
Energy stocks declined the most early in the day as the price of crude oil dropped again. Chevron and Exxon Mobil fell the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average.
KEEPING SCORE The Dow fell 0.49 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index was down 0.42 percent. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 0.18 percent.
IN EUROPE In Germany, the DAX was up 0.6 percent and in France, the CAC-40 gained 0.2 percent. The FTSE 100 was up 0.1 percent in Britain.
JAPAN GLOOM The government's business sentiment index and a separate survey on consumer confidence showed deepening doubts over Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies to revive the economy after it slipped into recession following an April tax increase.
THE QUOTE 'The renewed fall in consumer confidence last month shows that Abenomics provides little reason to cheer for Japan's households,' Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary. 'Since wage growth remains rather sluggish, it is perhaps no surprise that households feel downbeat.'
ASIAN SCORECARD The Nikkei 225 sank 2.3 percent in Japan, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.9 in China. The Kospi ended down 1.3 percent in South Korea.
CHINA INFLATION China's consumer price index rose 1.4 percent in November, the slowest pace in five years and a sign of weak domestic demand. That was well below the government's target of 3.5 percent, though lower oil prices were seen as an important factor. Low inflation could give Beijing more headroom to announce further stimulus for the slowing economy.
ENERGY Benchmark United States crude was down $1.56 to $62.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 77 cents to close at $63.82 a barrel on Tuesday.
CURRENCIES AND BONDS The dollar fell to 119.09 yen from 119.40 late Tuesday. The euro rose to $1.2390 from $1.2385. Government bond prices edged lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.22 percent.
Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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