US stocks record best quarterly gain in five years
New York | US stocks ended virtually unchanged to cap the best quarterly advance in five years. The US dollar edged higher.
ASX futures were 20 points or 0.3 per cent lower at 6174 at 6.30am AEST Saturday. The Australian dollar was 0.2 per cent higher at US72.23¢.
The S&P 500 Index saw the best quarter since 2013, even as the benchmark experienced its first weekly loss in three weeks. Financial shares paced losses, while technology firms led gains. Facebook shares declined more than 2 per cent after the tech giant said a security breach affected about 50 million users. Tesla tumbled the most in five years after securities regulators filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's car maker.
Oil had the longest run of weekly gains in four months as energy giants to Wall Street banks predicted the return of $US100 crude on an impending supply crunch. The dollar erased earlier gains after data showed US consumer spending cooled in August, while the 10-year Treasury yield traded near 3.05 per cent.
"When you look underneath the surface and you look at the market, this year has been a year when the market has just frankly been resilient," Jay Gragnani, head of research at Nasdaq Dorsey Wright, said by phone. "There's lots of talks of trade wars between China and the Canadian discussion. If you haven't paid attention to the market, it certainly hasn't felt like a very good year, but really you look underneath the surface and you've seen some pretty decent gains."
In Europe, Italy's populists won their battle to fund costly campaign promises, while infighting over Brexit is embroiling the UK's Conservative Party. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated, led by a plunge in Italian shares as the country's benchmark headed for the biggest drop in more than two years. The nation's yields climbed the most in four months after the government set a wider budget deficit than some investors had anticipated.
The yen's slide to the weakest level this year helped stoke Japanese stocks as Asian equities advanced from Sydney to Shanghai.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 was unchanged at 2913.93 as of 4pm in New York. The measure rallied more than 7 per cent in the third quarter.
- The Nasdaq composite rose less than 0.1 per cent, while small caps advanced.
- The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.8 per cent.
- Italy's FTSE MIB Index sank 3.7 per cent, the most in more than two years.
- Emerging-market stocks fell 0.4 per cent.
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
- The euro decreased 0.3 per cent to $US1.1612.
- The British pound fell 0.3 per cent to $US1.3039.
- The Japanese yen dropped 0.2 per cent at 113.60 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.05 per cent.
- Germany's 10-year yield decreased six basis points to 0.46 per cent, the largest tumble in four months.
- Britain's 10-year yield sank four basis points to 1.556 per cent.
- Japan's 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 0.13 per cent.
- Italy's 10-year yield jumped 33 basis points to 3.216 per cent, the highest in four weeks on the biggest surge in four months.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.7 per cent to $US73.34 a barrel.
- Gold gained 0.8 per cent to $US1192.25 an ounce.
- Copper rose 0.8 per cent to $US2.80 a pound.
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