U.S. shares recovered from
five-week lows on Wednesday following a downturn on concerns over potential
delays to President Donald Trump's pro-growth policies, while European shares
ended lower and safe-haven gold, U.S. Treasuries, and the yen rallied on those
worries.
The benchmark U.S. S&P 500
stock index notched its first gain in five sessions after briefly hitting its
lowest since Feb. 15. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares hit a
roughly two-week low, however, as investors increasingly worried whether Trump
would be able to push ahead with pro-growth policies.
Trump on Tuesday tried to rally
Republican lawmakers behind a plan to dismantle Obamacare, his first major
legislation since assuming office in January. Some investors fear that if the
healthcare reform act runs into trouble or takes longer than expected to pass,
then Trump's tax reform policies may face setbacks.
The slight gains in the S&P
500 came after the index closed down 1.2 percent on Tuesday in its worst daily
performance since Oct. 11. CBOE's VIX index .VIX, known as the "fear
gauge," briefly topped 13 for the first time since mid-January on
Wednesday.
U.S. and European shares were
little affected by a deadly attack in London near the British parliament.
"Investors with a lot of
cash used yesterday's downturn and the morning’s weakness today as a buying
opportunity," said Alan Lancz, president of investment advisory firm Alan
B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio. He said, however, that U.S. stocks
could slip again if Trump's healthcare bill fails to progress.
MSCI's all-country world equity
index .MIWD00000PUS was last down 1.04 points, or 0.23 percent, at 447.01.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed
down 6.71 points, or 0.03 percent, at 20,661.3. The S&P 500 ended up
4.43 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,348.45. The Nasdaq Composite gained
27.82 points, or 0.48 percent, to 5,821.64.
Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300
index closed down 0.37 percent, at 1,475.46.
Spot gold prices touched a more
than three-week high of $1,251.26 an ounce XAU= and the dollar hit a four-month
low against the yen of 110.75 yen.
Yields on benchmark 10-year U.S.
Treasury notes US10YT=RR hit a more than three-week low of 2.375 percent as
their prices rallied. [nL2N1GZ1J4]
Benchmark Brent crude oil prices
fell to a nearly four-month low of $49.71 a barrel LCOc1 and U.S. crude prices
CLc1 hit their own nearly four-month trough of $47.01 after data showed U.S.
crude inventories rising faster than expected.
Brent settled down 32 cents, or
0.63 percent, at $50.64 a barrel. U.S. crude settled down 20 cents, or 0.41
percent, at $48.04.
The dollar index .DXY, which
measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last down 0.1
percent at 99.689 after hitting a nearly seven-week low of 99.547 earlier.
[nL2N1GZ1JD]
"We are seeing a bit of a
de-risking happening across markets right now," said Karl Schamotta,
director of global product and market strategy at Cambridge Global Payments in
Toronto.
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