Asia Morning Nov 18

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks took a breather after a recent strong run. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 167 points (-0.56%) to 29783, the S&P 500 fell 17 points (-0.48%) to 3609, and the Nasdaq 100 was down 35 points (-0.30%) to 11977.

Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 Index gained 6 points (+0.37%) to an all-time high of 1791.


Nasdaq 100 Index (Daily Chart) : Waiting to Break Record

Sources: GAIN Capital, TradingView


U.S. official data showed that retail sales grew 0.3% on month in October, lower than +0.5% expected and +1.6% in September.

Utilities (-2.01%), Food & Staples Retailing (-1.49%) and Health Care Equipment & Services (-1.42%) sectors led the market lower. Retailers Home Depot (HD -2.54%) and Walmart (WMT -2.17%) were lower, while Tesla (TSLA +8.21%) and Boeing Co (BA +3.78%) posted gains.

Pharmacy stocks such as Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA -9.63%) and CVS Health (CVS -8.62%) fell after Amazon.com (AMZN +0.15%) announced plans to sell prescription drugs in the U.S.

Approximately 90% (87% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average and 88% (86% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.

European stocks were mixed at close. The Stoxx Europe 600 declined 0.24%, Germany's DAX was little changed, France's CAC 40 gained 0.21%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.87%.

U.S. Treasury prices increased as stocks slipped from recent record highs. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield slid to 0.872% from 0.906% Monday.

Spot gold declined $7 (-0.38%) to $1,881 an ounce.

U.S. WTI crude futures (December) gained $0.11 (+0.27%) to $41.45 a barrel.

The ICE Dollar Index was down for a fourth session falling 0.21% to 92.44.

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, widely regarded as safe-haven currencies, received bids as stocks eased from record highs. USD/JPY lost 0.36% to 104.19, and USD/CHF declined 0.15% to 0.9113.   

The British pound also gained, boosted by news of progress in the Brexit trade talks. GBP/USD climbed 0.36% to 1.3245.

EUR/USD climbed 0.09% to 1.1862 extending its winning streak to a fourth day.

The Australian dollar gave the worst performance among major currencies. AUD/USD dropped 0.27% to 0.7300 ending a two-day rally.

USD/CAD rebounded 0.24% to 1.3105.