US stocks hover near record highs as crude oil declines
NEW YORK (Reuters) – US stock prices were higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 hovering near record highs amid upbeat company earnings. Oil fell as traders brushed off a failed coup in Turkey over the weekend.
As Turkish authorities sought to retaliate for a faction of the armed forces’ bid to seize power, traders pared their safe-haven holdings of yen, gold and low-risk government bonds, though they clung to some of their gains seen when the coup attempt broke.
“The markets are going to be driven by earnings reports, while geopolitical problems take a backseat for now,” said Peter Cardillo, the chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
Bank of America, the No.2 US bank by assets, and fellow S&P 500 component Hasbro posted better-than-expected profit for the second quarter, mirroring the results of the few companies, including big banks, that reported last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 24.72 points, or 0.13 percent, at 18,541.27, the S&P 500 was 4.77 points, or 0.22%, higher at 2,166.51, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 27.68 points, or 0.55%, at 5,057.27.
Japan’s SoftBank Group’s $32 billion deal to buy British chip designer ARM Holdings briefly lifted European equities to a three-week high.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.1% at 1,334.15.
The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose 0.23 points, or 0.06%, to 411.45.
Turkish stock prices, however, were down 7.4%.
In the oil market, Brent crude was last down $1.00, or 2.1%, at $46.61 a barrel. US crude was last down $0.93, or 2.02%, at $45.02 per barrel.
In the currency market, the yen was down 0.7% against the dollar and 1% versus the euro as safe-haven trades tied to the coup in Turkey were largely reversed.
The dollar index was little changed at 96.574.
The Turkish lira recovered after posting its biggest oneday drop against the greenback since October 2008 on Friday as news of the coup attempt broke, according to Reuters data. It was last up 1.4% at 2.98 lira.
Spot gold prices fell $4.44, or 0.33%, to $1,333.01 an ounce.
Although concerns about Turkey’s stability have abated for now, yields on 10-year US and German government debt slipped on expectations the European Central Bank may embark on more stimulus to help the region’s sluggish economy.
The 10-year Treasury yield was down 1 basis point at 1.58%, and the 10-year Bund yield was down 3 basis points at minus-0.029%.