New York: Wall Street narrowly avoided a negative finish on Friday while major European indices ended in the red.
The close call for stocks in New York underscored signs of flagging momentum among investors after months of President Donald Trump-inspired euphoria.
Asian and European markets fell after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lowered US growth expectations, providing the trigger for a correction many said had been overdue.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than a tenth of a percentage point — marking an 11th straight record close. The broader S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq each added 0.2 per cent.
The indices had spent most of the trading session in negative territory, but all three posted gains for the week, with the Dow adding one per cent.
Jack Ablin of BMO Private Bank said there had been little news to motivate investors.
“There’s a little profit taking as we had an incredible run over the last week and a half or so,” he said. “Without further impetus from either the economy, policy or earnings, there’s probably nothing for investors to grab onto today.”
In Europe, matters were decidedly more downcast, with Frankfurt falling 1.2 per cent, and Paris’s CAC 40 and London’s FTSE 100 gave up 0.9 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
Wall Street’s recent surge “was probably a cue in itself for global markets to give a little back,” said Jasper Lawler, an analyst at London Capital Group.
Growth forecast
After all, he said, such a winning streak had not been seen since 1987, “the year that saw Black Monday, the biggest one-day market crash in history.”
Speaking on Thursday, Mnuchin forecast three per cent growth by the end of next year, warning that the effect of certain growth measures like tax cut would take time to be felt. That dialled back from the four per cent Trump has promised.
Mnuchin also appeared to wind back on his boss’s earlier threats to call China a currency manipulator, easing concerns about a possible trade stand-off between the world’s top two economic powers.
Stephen Innes, senior trader at OANDA, said the comments “have left investors dangling about the US administration’s currency policy as there appears to be a subtle shift in the Trump administration’s rhetoric.”
Gold, an attractive investment in risky times, rose 0.5 per cent on Friday as investors fled the stock markets for safety.
