Global stocks steady ahead of Fed announcement
Global stocks mostly treaded water Tuesday ahead of announcements by US and Japanese central banks this week that are expected to extend the loose monetary policies that have supported markets. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at the end of its two day meeting Wednesday. But its policy statement hint at whether investors can expect higher US interest rates later this year in light of better economic data. The Bank of Japan's policy meeting ends Friday, and analysts are expecting some sign of new stimulus measures. "The market is in a waiting mode ahead of the Fed," said Xavier de Villepion, equity salesman at HPC in Paris. Among major bourses, the S&P 500 was essentially flat, while Paris edged up 0.2 percent and London dipped 0.2 percent. Frankfurt gained 0.5 percent and Tokyo tumbled 1.4 percent as the yen pushed higher against the dollar on speculation that upcoming stimulus measures won't be as generous as previously thought. "The Japanese yen has made a sharp reversal the past 24 hours as investors have succumbed to reality: hopes for a major, 'fix all' set of stimulus measures won't be coming down the pipeline," said Christopher Vecchio, analyst at DailyFX. The lofty yen hit exporters like Toyota and factory robot maker Fanuc, which lost 2.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. McDonald's shed 4.5 percent as it reported a 9.1 percent drop in second-quarter earnings $1.09 billion, due to a $230 million charge from refranchising operations and tepid growth across its markets. Caterpillar, another component of the prestigious Dow index in the US, jumped 5.2 percent after signaling it would cut more jobs in response to the sustained downturn in investment by oil and mining companies. British oil company BP declined 1.3 percent after it posted a second-quarter loss of $1.4 billion (1.3 billion euros), with the costs of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster still weighing on the company in addition to sagging oil prices. The energy major had already revealed earlier this month that the final cost for the spill stood at $61.6 billion, including the latest second-quarter hit. - Key figures at 2100 GMT - New York - DOW: DOWN 0.1 percent at 18,473.75 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP less 0.1 percent at 2,169.18 (close) New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.2 percent at 5,110.05 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 6,724.03 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.5 percent at 10,247.76 points (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 4,394.77 points (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 2,978.90 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.4 percent at 16,383.04 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 22,129.73 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,050.17 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0986 from $1.0993 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3132 from $1.3139 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 104.64 yen from 105.82 yen
