USA stocks have notched all-time highs in recent weeks while European stocks have staged a steep recovery from their post-Brexit lows. WTI also posted its best settle since July 1.
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International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were down 0.2 percent at $49.74 per barrel at 1020 GMT (0620 ET). The dollar was down 0.40 percent against the franc at 0.9576 franc CHF= . This was the biggest fall in full-time employment since 2003; part-time jobs rose to +71.6K, from -30.6K in June. Leading indicators rose 0.4 percent last month, slightly more than expected.
Turning to fresh New York Fed research on the “hollowing out” of the labor market, in which positions like teachers and mechanics have faded in recent years and contributed to wage inequality, Dudley said “the tide has begun to turn”. He also said the minutes “create uncertainty within the Fed, which the market is interpreting as no action from the Fed”. Those expectations had been bolstered by comments from New York Fed chief William Dudley on Tuesday, who said the central bank could possibly raise rates as soon as September.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams speaks on economic outlook in Anchorage, Alaska at 4:00 p.m. ET.
“To be fair, the Fed has repeatedly said it would be dependent on the data and to see a mixed Fed amid mixed data makes sense, to an extent”, Edward Jones’ Warne said.
Market participants interpreted the minutes as moderately positive for risk-taking, with the Fed remaining divided on the timing of the next hike. “I think the market is topping a bit”.
Hong Kong stocks rallied 1.2 percent in morning trade, while Shanghai was up 0.1 percent, and Seoul added 0.3 percent. The yuan pulled back on Wednesday after hitting an eight-week closing high in the prior session.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 11.6.
Even as USA stocks have notched fresh all-time highs, “people are not feeling as good as you might think they’d feel”, said Seth Masters, chief investment officer at AllianceBernstein’s wealth management arm, pointing to deteriorating measures of investor sentiment. Wal-Mart shares were up 1.5 percent in afternoon trade.
In other corporate news, Caterpillar, another Dow component, saw its shares slide more than 1 percent after reporting a decline in July retail machine sale. The index of the dollar against a basket of six major currencies last stood at 94.622, hovering near Tuesday’s seven-week low of 94.426 and having lost over 1 percent so far this week.
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The FOMC decided at that meeting to maintain the federal funds rate at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, with one member dissenting from that decision.
