United States stocks slipped at the end of trade as oil prices slumped and investors looked ahead to this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve. While the UK’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.6%, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index are down by 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively.
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On the earnings front, chemical giant DuPont (DD) reported third quarter earnings that came in above analyst estimates but on weaker than expected revenues. Third-quarter growth data due this week is one reason the Fed is set to remain on pause, say economists (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-set-to-remain-on-pause-as-gdp-data-expected-to-show-slowdown-2015-10-25).
Chinese Internet search company Baidu jumped 7.1 percent after announcing a share exchange transaction involving a pair Chinese travel companies, Ctrip.com global and Qunar Cayman Islands.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.65 to close at 17623.05.
“The advance on the S&P 500 over the past few weeks has been nearly linear, but we are not seeing it confirmed in the Russell 2000 or equal-weighted index, so we expect anxiety to creep in over the next few months”, Wiegand said.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.4 percent at 1,484.52 points at the close, after rising 1.95 percent in the previous session.
Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 36.4 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 39.1 billion shares. Ford Motor Co. and Apple Inc. are among more than 160 S&P 500 companies reporting earnings this week.
Equities got an added boost Friday after China cut interest rates for the sixth time in a year.
Leading meat and food-processing companies fell after a report by a World Health Organisation agency said sausage, ham and other processed meats lifts the odds of contracting cancer.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals was down 7.8% at $107.06. Crude for December delivery is now sliding $0.90 to $43.08 a barrel.
Last week, stocks rallied for a third straight period, as the S&P 500 bounced back to positive territory for the year. An index of semiconductors was down 2 per cent after three days of gains.
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Excluding a continued decrease in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders fell by a more modest 0.4% in September after declining by 0.9% in August. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 3.3 basis points at 2.025 percent. The measure of market turbulence known as the VIX is down about 38 per cent in October, on track for its biggest monthly decline ever.
