The Australian equity market is pointed to a weaker open on Thursday after US stocks sank for a third consecutive day as falling commodity prices added to investor anxiety over the euro and a jump in Italy’s borrowing costs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 131.46 points lower, or 1.10%, at 11,823.50 with the energy sector taking the biggest hit. The S&P500 fell 13.91 points, or 1.13%, to 1211.82, while the Nasdaq fell 39.96 points or 1.13%.
Stocks joined a global slump as Italy had to pay the most in 14 years to sell five-year bonds and the cost of insuring against default on European sovereign debt approached a record. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there’s no easy solution to the euro-region crisis.
The euro fell below $1.30 for the first time since January as signs of increased funding stress in Europe damped investor appetite for the shared currency. The euro slipped 0.5% to $1.2976 at 3:10 p.m. New York time, after depreciating to $1.2946, the weakest level since Jan. 11.
Gold traded down from intra-day highs of 1641.00 and ended at its lowest level in over five months settling below the psychological level off 1600 an ounce as a stronger dollar curbed demand for the metal as an alternative asset.
WTI oil tumbled the most since September as the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to raise it production ceiling and Europe’s continued struggles to contain the regions debt crisis. WTI oil traded down from highs of 100.28 per barrel and settled down over 5 per cent to 94.95 a barrel
INDICES
Last Traded
SPI 200 future 4134
S&P500 Index 1211.82
Dow Jones 11823.50
FTSE 100 Index 5366.80
COMMODITIES
Last Traded
Gold 1576.30
Oil (Nymex) 94.95
CURRENCIES
Last Traded
AUDUSD 0.9901
EURUSD 1.2986
GBPUSD 1.5462
USDJPY 78.05
Source
Bloomberg, Dow Jones News