On Tuesday, U.S. stock markets closed in mixed fashion. By the time New York trading ended, the Dow had settled at 50,188 points, a 0.1 % gain over the previous day. The Nasdaq 100, however, finished 0.6 % lower at 25,128 points. The broader S&P 500 ended up 0.3 % below 6,942 points.
Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, highlighted that retail sales in the United States still showed a published stagnation, falling short of expectations for a 0.4 % bump. “Consumption, a key driver of the economy, is already cooling noticeably, a trend that can be traced back to a loosening labor market” he said. Lipkow added that the employment figures for the number of new jobs created in January-due tomorrow-will be critical to determine whether this negative trajectory continues or accelerates.
The euro slipped slightly against the dollar in the evening session. One euro was worth 1.1894 U.S. dollars, meaning one dollar could be exchanged for 0.8408 euros.
Gold weakened at night, trading at $5,029 per fine ounce, a 0.6 % drop-equivalent to €135.94 per gram. Meanwhile, Brent crude saw a modest rise; around 22:00 CET, a barrel of North Sea Brent fetched $69.06, up just 2 cents or 0.0 % from the previous close.