Spot gold was up 0.7 per cent at $US1,347.95 an ounce by 3.07 pm EDT (0507 Wednesday AEST), retreating from an earlier 1.3-per cent gain. The Australian dollar went up to 0.7698 dollars from 0.7682 dollars. The Nasdaq Composite Index finished down 34.90 points, or 0.7%, at 5,227.11, after setting record closing levels for three sessions in a row. The Labor Department said inflation remains low, as prices paid by consumers were unchanged in July.
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The flat CPI reading released for the U.S. in July is the weakest since February 2016, it also follows 2 consecutive months of 0.2% increases.
Jana Partners dissolved its share stake in the world’s biggest gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the second quarter of 2016 as bullion prices rose to two-year highs, US Securities and Exchange Commission filings showed on Monday.
It was also a claim made in the 1990s by the then Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The euro rose to 1.1277 dollars from 1.1183.
Platinum was down 0.14 percent at $1,110, while palladium fell 0.43 percent to $697. The stock tumbled $14.05, or 26.3 percent, to $39.35.
Uniform maker Cintas said it will buy G&K Services, a uniform and facility services maker, for $97.50 a share, or $1.93 billion. AIG has been streamlining its business and said early this year that it would spin off United Guaranty. Its stock dipped 5 cents to $59.17. Shares in China were mixed after leaders approved a plan to give foreign investors more access to Chinese equities through Hong Kong. The stock skidded 1.47 dollars, or 4.9%, to 28.28 dollars.
“[Dudley’s] message was clear; the market is far too complacent about the rate increase”, said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, in a note. Meanwhile the Commerce Department said the pace of home construction grew by the most since February. A report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of NY showed that manufacturing activity in the region dropped to -4.2 from 0.6 a month earlier.
Industrial production and capacity utilisation were both better-than-expected at 0.7 percent and 75.9 percent.
Adding to the support for the dollar, Japanese 10-year government bonds have underperformed over the past few weeks, and the Japanese holiday period coupled with the northern summer tends to thin market liquidity and exaggerate price moves. Still, factory output is just 0.2 percent higher than it was a year ago and manufacturers aren’t adding many jobs.
USA employers added 255,000 jobs in July, a substantial improvement following May’s data, which showed just 11,000 new jobs. Brent crude futures were trading at $48.92 per barrel, down 31 cents from their last settlement. Germany’s DAX index declined 0.6 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.7 per cent, and France’s CAC 40 index dropped 0.8 per cent.
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“Wall Street was sharply lower on Tuesday morning, with indexes pulling away from record levels, after New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley said an interest rate in September was possible”.
