Stocks Higher, Trump Probe Said to Widen: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gyrated Thursday following reports that U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller is expanding his investigation of President Donald Trump to examine his financial dealings. The euro climbed after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the bank would discuss language on bond purchases in the autumn.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at an all-time high for a third straight day, while the S&P 500 Index was little changed and Dow Jones Industrial Average declined. The dollar dropped, and bonds advanced. Gold gained after tumbling 0.5 percent earlier in the session.

The euro whipsawed, retreating as the central bank deferred the delicate decision on policy normalization until later this year, and then advancing as Draghi pointed to a timeline for policy makers to consider any change in their language.

“The ECB has maintained a very supportive approach, because inflation remains too low, despite better growth prospects,” said Gilles Pradere, portfolio manager at RAM Active Investments SA.

Here’s our live blog on the ECB’s policy decision and Draghi’s briefing

The euro’s jump hit stocks in the region, which erased a gain before fluctuating, and the greenback, which pared an advance as it continued to recover from Tuesday’s lowest close in 11 months. The yen dropped after Japanese policy makers delayed the time-frame for reaching their inflation target -- a sign stimulus will be in place for a while to come. Oil climbed a third day.

Read our Markets Live blog here

And here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 closed essentially unchanged after an up-and-down session. The Nasdaq 100 Index and Nasdaq Composite added 0.1 percent.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent.
• The MSCI All-Country World Index gained 0.2 percent, reaching the highest on record with its 10th consecutive advance.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index added 0.8 percent to the highest in a month.
• Germany’s DAX Index declined less than 0.1 percent.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index advanced less than 0.1 percent.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.3 percent to its lowest level in almost a year.
• The euro rose 1 percent to $1.1631, and touched the highest since August 2015.
• The British pound dipped 0.4 percent to $1.2973.
• The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 111.91 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 2.2624 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield dropped one basis point to 0.53 percent for its fifth consecutive decline.
• Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 1.205 percent.

Commodities

• Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,243.61 an ounce.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $46.79 a barrel, reversing earlier gains.
• The Bloomberg Commodity Index rose 0.1 percent to the highest since May 26.

Asia

• The Aussie traded lower as a characteristically volatile monthly jobs report for June showed a surge in full-time employment. It’s the best-performing G-10 currency this year, climbing 10 percent.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5 percent and Japan’s Topix Index rose 0.7 percent to close at its highest in nearly two years.

--With assistance from James Herron

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric J. Weiner in New York at eweiner12@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net, Cecile Gutscher