Oil prices shot higher Tuesday on an indicator pointing to increased China demand as global equity markets mostly moved sideways amid caution over the US elections.
Both major crude futures contracts climbed more than two percent as Chinese authorities lifted the import quotas on independent oil refineries in 2025 in a sign growth may be recovering.
On Wall Street, major indices opened lower, but pushed into positive territory in the afternoon before losing steam after that. The Dow finished flat for the day.
“The market is just kind of grinding and not doing a whole lot,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. “It’s indicative of a market taking a step back.”
The muted day came as US Treasury yields climbed, a dynamic that has sometimes pressured stocks.
“I think that there’s a tension between the fact that yields are rising which obviously means that bonds are more competitive with stocks,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.
“On the other hand, it’s also indicative that the economy might be stronger than we thought it may have been. So you have that tension there.”
Concerns over the outcome of the US election on November 5 have weighed on investor sentiment, with recent polls and forecasts indicating that Donald Trump has “gained ground” on Kamala Harris, Deutsche Bank economists noted.
Expectations of another bumper US interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve have been tempered slightly following a recent run of strong American data on jobs creation and as some top decision-makers suggested they would like to see a slower pace of rate cuts.
Tech titans Alphabet and IBM announce their latest results over the next two days, while earnings from Boeing, Coca-Cola, and L’Oreal are also in the pipeline.
In Europe, London stocks dipped following data that showed UK public borrowing rose more than expected in September, as the new Labour government prepares for its first budget next week that is expected to include tax increases.
Frankfurt also edged lower but was bolstered by strong third-quarter earnings for German software giant SAP, whose shares were up nearly four percent in early afternoon deals.
Paris ended the day flat.
In Asia, both Shanghai and Hong Kong rose on hopes of more Chinese stimulus.
Tokyo closed down more than one percent, even as the yen softened against the dollar to sit at its weakest level since early August.
Key figures around 2100 GMT
New York – Dow: FLAT at 42,924.89 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,851.20 (close)
New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 18,573.13 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,306.54 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: FLAT at 7,535.10 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 19,421.91 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.4 percent at 38,411.96 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 20,498.95 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,285.87 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0800 from $1.0815 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2977 from $1.2985
Dollar/yen: UP at 151.02 yen from 150.84 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.14 pence from 83.29 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.4 percent at $76.04 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.2 percent at $72.09 per barrel
burs-jmb/jgc
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