Lola Evans
20 Jul 2019, 06:14 GMT+10
NEW YORK, New York - Stocks in the U.S. defied the global trend on Friday and lost ground. Markets elsewhere saw the week out on a positive note with bourses across the world closing with appreciable gains.
The U.S. dollar which had been sold heavily up until Thursday, rebounded in Asia on Friday. Those gains were added to in Europe and the U.S. leaving the greenback well bid at the end of the week.
What drove markets were mixed signals from members of the Fed, however on Friday a spokesman for the central bank said the comments were not meant to telegraph how the Fed will manage rates going forward. Speculation of a large rate cut diminished, with expectaions now being for a quarter-point cut.
"It appears that the Fed has communicated its message," Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama told Reuters Thomson. "They're basically trying to clarify their policy."
At the 4:00pm close on Friday in New York, the Dow Jones industrials were down 68.77 points or 0.25% at 27,154.20.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 60.75 points or 0.74% to 8,146.49.
The Standard and Poor's 500 fell 18.50 points or 0.62% to 2,976.61.
The euro plummeted to 1.1217 by the close in New York trading on Friday. The British pound fell to 1.2498.
The Japanese yen eased to 107.75, while the Swiss franc was largely unchanged at 0.9828.
The Canadian dollar edged down to 1.3037. The Australian dollar fell to 0.7043, while the New Zealand dollar slid to 0.6760.
In overseas markets, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.21%.
The German Dax rose 0.26%, while the Paris-based CAC 40 added 0.03%.
In Asian markets, in Japan the Nikkei 225 erased Thursday's losses, gaining 420.75 points or 2.00% to close at 21,466.99 on Friday.
In China, the Shanghai Composite gained 23.02 points or 0.79% to 2,924.20.
The Australian All Ordinaries climbed 50.80 points or 0.75% to 6,786.20.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 303.74 points or 1.07% to 28,765.40.
Get a daily dose of Haiti Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Haiti Sun.
More InformationLONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party will win an overwhelming victory in Britain's election with a majority of ...
BETHLEHEM, Palestinian territories - Israel announced Thursday that Christians in the Gaza Strip will be barred from visiting Holy cities ...
NIAMEY, Niger - At least 71 soldiers were killed and twelve others sustained injuries in a deadly terror attack that ...
BAGHDAD, Iraq - As protests in Iraq enter their third month, the numbers of arrests, abductions, and killings of protesters ...
SYDNEY, Australia - Two Australian schoolboys severely injured in the White Island volcano eruption in New Zealand on Monday have ...
WASHINGTON, DC - An executive order issued by President Donald Trump interpreting members of the Jewish religion as part of ...
SYDNEY, Australia - Stocks roared in Asia following record-breaking gains in New York overnight.Taking global markets by surprise was the ...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks hit record highs on Thursday as reports circulated that the U.S. and China ...
The scale of the Conservatives' projected victory in Britain's election makes Brexit all but inevitable, but could lead to a ...
BEIJING - China's Foreign Ministry, when asked about the trade deal with the United States, said it is committed to ...
LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party has won a solid majority of seats in Britain's Parliament - a ...
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration and China are close to finalizing a modest trade agreement that would suspend tariffs that ...