US LNG exports surge but will buyers in China turn up?
(Adds U.S. markets opening)
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
* Reuters Live Markets blog: LIVE/
By Matt Scuffham and Elizabeth Howcroft
NEW YORK/LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Stocks fell and the
dollar rose on Wednesday as investors turned more cautious about
COVID-19 and stretched stock valuations, with the U.S Federal
Reserve meeting and a glut of corporate earnings also in focus.
Investors parsed through earnings reports from companies
including Boeing BA.N and Microsoft MSFT.O , ahead of the
Federal Reserve's policy statement later in the day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 547.59 points,
or 1.77%, to 30,389.45, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 74.03 points, or
1.92%, to 3,775.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
275.52 points, or 2.02%, to 13,350.55.
"There is plenty of discussion on Covid-19 variants,
lockdowns, earnings, and co-ordinated retail assaults on single
names to more than dampen risk appetite," said Stephen Innes,
chief global markets strategist at Axi.
Boeing Co posted a record annual loss but shares in
Microsoft hit a record high after it said its Azure cloud
computing services grew by 50%. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed
1.85%.
Following a weak Asian session in which shares were hurt by
profit-taking, European indexes also retreated, with the STOXX
600 down 0.8%. London's FTSE 100 was down 1.5% .FTSE while Germany's DAX
was down 2.4% .GDAXI .
The dollar index =USD rose 0.744%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.79% to $1.2064.
"There's been a bit of a shift of tone in markets in the
last few days," said Catherine Doyle, investment specialist at
Newton Investment Management.
"Markets are starting to worry about COVID again," she
added, highlighting in particular the Brazilian and South
African variants of the virus. Quarterly earnings from U.S. tech giants including Facebook
FB.O and Apple AAPL.O , are due later in the session.
"With some financial assets currently trading at what many
are describing as bubble territory, there'll be heightened
attention on these releases to see whether these current
valuations are justified," Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid
said in a note to clients.
Heightened participation of retail investors in the stock
market has come into focus this week, as amateur traders on
Reddit's r/WallStreetBets stock trading discussion group piled
into GameStop GME.N , causing it to skyrocket while
professional shortsellers scrambled to cover losing bets.
To some stock market professionals, the recent moves look
symbolic of a stock market that may be overvalued at the end of
a year dominated by floods of fiscal and monetary stimulus to
ease the coronavirus crisis.
Newton Investment Management's Doyle said that people
"taking a punt on the market" is a sign that "risk appetite has
got carried away".
Also in focus is the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The Fed is not expected to make any policy changes but investors
will be listening for shifts in tone around the economic outlook
and any mention of slowing down - or "tapering" - the Fed's
asset purchases. U.S. Treasury yields slumped as nagging concerns about the
surge in virus cases, the prospect of prolonged lockdowns, and
challenges to vaccine rollouts weighed on the global economic
outlook.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last rose 9/32 in price
to yield 1.0093%.
The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for
global economic growth in 2021, and said the
coronavirus-triggered downturn last year would be nearly one
percentage point less severe than expected. Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday and
countries around the world are struggling with new variants of
the virus and delays in vaccine rollouts. The euro EUR= was last down 0.79 percent, at $1.2064.
Spot gold prices XAU= fell $-18.01 or -0.97 percent, to
$1,832.30 an ounce.
Oil prices rose after industry data showed U.S. crude
stockpiles fell unexpectedly last week and China recorded its
lowest daily rise in COVID-19 cases in more than two weeks.
Brent crude LCOc1 was last down $0.27, or down 0.48
percent, at $55.64 a barrel. U.S. crude CLc1 was last down
$0.31, or down 0.59 percent, at $52.3 per barrel.
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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
Fed Balance Sheet https://tmsnrt.rs/3iOsevC
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