Global stocks stumble, oil surges, dollar rally stalls

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. and European stocks stumbled on Wednesday after big gains a day earlier amid disappointing corporate earnings, while oil prices surged for a second day as data showed U.S. crude inventories fell unexpectedly last week.

The U.S. dollar <.DXY> fell 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies after rallying for six consecutive days, as investors looked to book profits. The yen rebounded 0.7 percent against the dollar >, halting declines against the greenback as Japan has threatened to intervene on its strong currency.

U.S. Treasuries extended their price gains after a strong government auction of $23 billion in 10-year notes.

 

MSCI's broad gauge of global stocks <.MIWD00000PUS> fell 0.4 percent. On Tuesday, the index climbed nearly 1.1 percent, its best session in about a month, while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 had tallied its best day in about two months.

"I think a lot of the reason why the market is pulling back today is because we had such a huge rally yesterday," said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City. "Traders are kind of pulling back their horns, taking a little bit of risk off the table, looking for a reason to take some profit."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was off 189.09 points, or 1.05 percent, at 17,739.26, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 15.39 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,069 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 34.94 points, or 0.73 percent, at 4,774.94.

Disappointing profit reports from Disney and Macy's hurt stocks, with Disney the biggest drag on the Dow and the S&P 500, and Macy's weighing on retailers.

"We're getting a lot of news on U.S. consumers today and it isn't good news," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

With first-quarter earnings season largely complete, S&P 500 companies have mostly beaten analysts' expectations, but profits are still estimated to have fallen 5.4 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index fell 0.5 percent after two sessions of gains. Outdoor advertising group JC Decaux was among the worst performers after a weak outlook.

The dollar fell as investors booked profits on a day with no major U.S. economic data.

"The dollar's bias hasn't meaningfully brightened given deep market scepticism in the Federal Reserve firing an interest rate hike in the near future," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.

Oil prices jumped after the U.S. government reported crude inventories fell unexpectedly for the first time since March, adding to concerns over supply disruptions in Canada and Nigeria.

Benchmark Brent settled up 4.6 percent at $47.60 a barrel, while U.S. crude settled up 3.5 percent at $46.23 a barrel. Oil prices have recovered some ground after touching 12-year lows earlier in 2016.

The Treasury's 10-year note sale occurred at a high yield of 1.71 percent, which was below the roughly 1.73 percent level that the debt had traded at before the sale.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes > were up 10/32 in price to yield 1.7262 percent in afternoon trading, from a close of 1.76 percent on Tuesday.

Spot gold > rose 0.8 percent as the decline in the dollar and shares globally rekindled investors' appetite for the precious metal.

(Additional reporting by Barani Krishnan, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Karen Brettell in New York, Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru and Jamie McGeever in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)