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U.S. Stocks Halt Rally, Dollar Slips With Crude: Markets Wrap

Yuan Holds Gains; Asia Stocks Set for Mixed Start: Markets Wrap

U.S. Stocks Halt Rally, Dollar Slips With Crude: Markets Wrap
A pedestrian is reflected in an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan (Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks halted a four-day advance as trade tensions ratcheted higher and America slapped sanctions on Russia. Oil tumbled.

The S&P 500 Index turned lower in the final minutes of trading to thwart what would have been the longest winning streak since February. It’s about half a percentage point shy of its all-time record. Equities swung between gains and losses throughout a light trading session, with energy producers leading declines after crude sank 4 percent. Markets opened lower after Washington and Beijing announced dates for fresh levies on billions in goods.

Treasuries rose as investors scooped up a record $26 billion 10-year auction, showing that swelling U.S. government issuance has yet to put pressure on the nation’s long-term borrowing costs. The ruble slumped on the sanctions announcement. Canada’s dollar climbed and stocks edged higher even after Saudi Arabia threatened to sell the nation’s assets as part of a diplomatic dispute.

U.S. Stocks Halt Rally, Dollar Slips With Crude: Markets Wrap

U.S. stocks have churned higher in the past five weeks on the strength of blowout corporate earnings and signs economic growth has taken off. That’s helped offset growing concern that global trade tensions will hamstring the expansion at the same time that diplomatic skirmishes also increase.

Elsewhere, Turkey’s lira erased most of Tuesday’s gains as investors said there’s no easy way to rescue its financial markets. Bitcoin tumbled, leading a sell-off in digital coins of all sizes, as a cryptocurrency market gauge dropped to its lowest level since November.

Terminal users can follow our Markets Live blog here.

Here are some key events coming up this week:

  • Samsung Electronics is set to unveil its next Galaxy Note smartphone on Thursday.
  • U.S. consumer prices probably rose in July from June, consistent with a pickup in inflation that’s projected to keep the Federal Reserve on a path of gradual interest-rate increases, economists forecast before Friday’s release.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

  • The S&P 500 slipped less than one point to 2,857..72 as of 4 p.m. in New York. The index is within 1 percent of an all-time high.
  • The Nasdaq 100 Index added 0.1 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost less 0.2 percent.
  • The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 0.2 percent.
  • The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent.
  • The MSCI All-Country World Index was virtually unchanged.

Currencies

  • The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was down 0.1 percent.
  • The Japanese yen added 0.4 percent to 110.98 per dollar.
  • The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.1614.
  • The Canadian dollar rose 0.3 percent.

Bonds

  • The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 2.96 percent.

Commodities

  • The Bloomberg Commodity Index retreated 0.4 percent.
  • Gold futures added 0.2 percent to $1,220.90 an ounce.
  • West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.4 percent to $66.84 a barrel.

--With assistance from Eddie van der Walt, Liz Capo McCormick and Nick Wadhams.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeremy Herron in New York at jherron8@bloomberg.net;Olivia Schaber in New York at oschaber1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Anstey at canstey@bloomberg.net, Todd White

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.