Overnight equities finished in negative territory for the 12th time in 13 sessions in choppy trade, early in the trading session the markets were bullish on reports that Germany and France will act to keep Greece in the euro zone. Markets turned sour after news that the ECB has halted monetary operations to certain Greek banks.
The Dow Index slid 33 points to close at 12,598, while the S&P 500 fell 5.86 points to finish at 1,324.80. Earlier in the session the Dax closed down 0.26 percent at 6384.
On the economic front, US housing starts rose more than expected in April, gaining 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units. The Fed meeting minutes showed that a couple of Fed policymakers were in favour of further quantitative easing if the economy falters.
WTI crude oil (see above chart) fell to the lowest level in more than six months as US supplies grew to the most since 1990 and ongoing troubles in Greece further highlighted the euro zone debt crisis.
The volatility index which is considered the best gauge of fear in the market settled at 22.27, this is the highest level this year.
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4157
S&P500 Index 1324.80
Dow Jones 12598.55
FTSE 100 Index 5405.25
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1540.20
Oil (Nymex) 92.77
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 0.9912
EURUSD 1.2716
GBPUSD 1.5913
USDJPY 80.31
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News
http://www.vantagefx.com/market-news/market-wrap/