U.S. stock markets fall, European equities rebound, dollar mixed
"The market has had a strong run and is now in digestion mode. Some technical indicators suggest a pullback may be coming," Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets told CNBC Tuesday. "This is a pause, a period to focus on individual names driven by earnings, while the broader market watches how the Fed's narrative evolves."
"Hopefully, we'll get some clarity after Wednesday's press conference," he added.
All three major U.S. benchmarks finished in negative territory Tuesday:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): Fell 18.91 points (0.30 percent) to close at 6,370.86
Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI): Dropped 204.57 points (0.46 percent) to 44,632.99
NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC): Declined 80.29 points (0.38 percent) to 21,098.29
Trading volumes were robust, with the NASDAQ seeing 9.017 billion shares change hands, while the Dow traded 487.197 million shares.
U.S. Dollar Mixed in Foreign Exchange Markets as Yen Strengthens, Pound Rises Despite Weak UK Data
The U.S. dollar showed a mixed performance in Tuesday's foreign exchange trading, softening against the Japanese yen but holding firm against the euro and commodity-linked currencies.
Key Currency Movements
EUR/USD (Euro - U.S. Dollar): The euro fell 0.26 percent to 1.1556, marking its third decline in four sessions amid concerns over sluggish Eurozone growth.
USD/JPY (U.S. Dollar - Japanese Yen): The dollar slipped 0.10 percent to 148.34 yen, pressured by intervention warnings from Japanese officials.
GBP/USD (British Pound - U.S. Dollar): Sterling edged up 0.08 percent to 1.3362 despite weaker-than-expected UK retail sales, which fell 1.2 percent month-over-month versus forecasts of a 0.5 percent drop. Analysts attributed the resilience to broad dollar weakness.
USD/CAD (U.S. Dollar - Canadian Dollar): The greenback rose 0.19 percent to 1.3764 as falling crude oil prices weighed on the commodity-sensitive loonie.
USD/CHF (U.S. Dollar - Swiss Franc): The dollar gained 0.23 percent to 0.8050, supported by safe-haven demand amid geopolitical tensions.
Commodity Currencies Struggle
AUD/USD (Australian Dollar - U.S. Dollar): The Aussie dipped 0.06 percent to 0.6516 after disappointing Chinese industrial profit data clouded the outlook for Australia's exports.
NZD/USD (New Zealand Dollar - U.S. Dollar): The kiwi fell 0.15 percent to 0.5959, underperforming most G10 peers amid risk-off sentiment.
Market Drivers
Traders remained cautious ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy decision, with markets pricing in a 60 percent chance of a September rate cut. The dollar index (DXY) held steady near 106.80.
Global stock markets delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday, with UK and European indices leading gains while some Asian and Middle Eastern markets faced declines.
Canada's TSX Bucks the North America Trend
In contrast to its U.S. counterparts, Canada's S&P/TSX Composite (^GSPTSE) gained 134.46 points (0.49 percent) to finish at 27,539.88, supported by strength in the energy and financial sectors. Trading volume reached 201.089 million shares.
UK and Europe Rallies Broadly
UK's FTSE 100 (^FTSE) rose 54.88 points (0.60 percent) to 9,136.32
Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) surged 247.01 points (1.03 percent) to 24,217.37
France's CAC 40 (^FCHI) gained 56.48 points (0.72 percent) to 7,857.36
EURO STOXX 50 (^STOXX50E) climbed 41.64 points (0.78 percent) to 5,379.22
Belgium's BEL 20 (^BFX) added 26.84 points (0.58 percent) to 4,620.96
Asia and Pacific: Gains
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) edged up 6.90 points (0.08 percent) to 8,704.60
All Ordinaries (^AORD) inched up 3.20 points (0.04 percent) to 8,966.70
Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) rose 11.77 points (0.33 percent) to 3,609.71, supported by selective buying in financial and tech stocks.
India's Sensex (^BSESN) rose 446.93 points (0.55 percent) to 81,337.95
Indonesia's IDX Composite (^JKSE) gained 3.14 points (0.04 percent) to 7,617.91
New Zealand's NZX 50 (^NZ50) added 25.67 points (0.20 percent) to 12,936.41
South Korea's KOSPI (^KS11) rose 21.05 points (0.66 percent) to 3,230.57
Decliners in Asia:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 37.68 points (0.15 percent) to 25,524.45
Singapore's STI (^STI) dropped 11.73 points (0.28 percent) to 4,229.41
Malaysia's KLSE (^KLSE) lost 5.56 points (0.36 percent) to 1,523.82
Taiwan's TWSE (^TWII) slumped 211.46 points (0.90 percent) to 23,201.52
Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) declined 323.72 points (0.79 percent) to 40,674.55
Middle East and Africa: Mixed Signals
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
12 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
U.S. Fed governor Adriana Kugler resigns before term's end, allowing Trump to name successor
The Federal Reserve said on Friday that Governor Adriana Kugler is resigning early from her term and will exit the central bank on Aug. 8, potentially shaking up what was already a fractious succession process for Fed leadership amid difficult relations with President Donald Trump. The Fed said in a statement that Kugler, who became a governor in September 2023, will leave before her term's conclusion, which was scheduled for Jan. 31, 2026. In a press release, the Fed said Kugler will return to Georgetown University as a professor next autumn. Kugler did not attend this week's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Kugler's early departure may shake up the timeline for the succession process now surrounding Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends next May. Trump has threatened to fire Powell repeatedly, believing interest rates should be much lower than they are. An open letter to President Trump: Your threats against Powell are unbecoming, dangerous and must stop Trump will now get to select a Fed governor to replace Kugler and finish out her term. Some speculation has centred on the idea Trump might pick a potential future chair to fill that slot as a holding place. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the Fed appointment, although Trump said later he was happy to have an open slot to fill. 'I would not read any political motivation into what [Kugler is] doing, although the consequence of what she's doing is she's calling Trump's bluff,' said Derek Tang, an analyst at LH Meyer, a research firm. 'She's putting the ball in his court and saying, look, you're putting so much pressure on the Fed, and you want some control over nominees, well, here's a slot.' The mechanics of filling the soon-to-be open governor role have a number of moving parts that make it hard to say how Trump will approach finding a replacement for Kugler. Tang noted the president could even fill the position temporarily with a recess appointment while the Senate, responsible for confirming Board of Governors officials, is not in session. There's also some uncertainty about what would happen to someone quickly confirmed to the role given that the term ends early next year, although some Fed observers noted a governor can stay in office in an expired term until a replacement has been confirmed. Opinion: Trump's war on Fed Chair Jerome Powell could roil Canada – and your mortgage Over recent days, Trump's rhetoric about the Fed has remained heated – he called Powell on Friday 'a stubborn MORON' – but he appears to have backed away from his threats to fire the central bank leader. In a letter to Trump announcing her resignation, Kugler wrote 'I am proud to have tackled this role with integrity, a strong commitment to serving the public, and with a data-driven approach strongly based on my expertise in labor markets and inflation.' Kugler's time at the Fed was a challenging one as central bankers raised rates aggressively to combat high inflation pressures. Those high rates have put them in the crosshairs of Trump and have caused economic challenges, although inflation pressures have moved much closer to the central bank's 2% target. At the FOMC meeting this week, the Fed maintained its interest rate target range at between 4.25% and 4.5% as policy-makers stayed on the sidelines to see how Trump's aggressive regime of large import tax increases will affect the economy and inflation pressures. Two Fed officials opposed that stance and wanted a rate cut, worried that risks to the job market are rising and that the inflation threat posed by tariffs is transient. Trump fires head of U.S. employment data, claims weak jobs numbers were 'manipulated' The Fed's dissenters found some support for their concerns in the release Friday of weaker-than-expected jobs data that was particularly notable for downward revisions to prior month's job gains. Some Fed officials who spoke on Friday noted the report with concern but said they need to see more evidence the job market is running into trouble before changing their views on monetary policy. Trump reacted to the jobs data with a double-barrelled attack, hitting the Fed for not cutting rates while directing his staff to fire the commissioner of the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, claiming without evidence the hiring numbers had been rigged. Trump's move rattled markets and raised questions about the future integrity of one of the most important statistical reports financial markets rely upon.
Globe and Mail
14 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Why Arm Holdings Stock Sank by Over 15% This Week
Key Points The company's second-quarter results displeased many investors. They also inspired some analyst price target cuts. 10 stocks we like better than Arm Holdings › Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM) felt something like an unwanted limb over the past few days, largely because of an earnings report that struck the wrong chord with more than a few investors. Several analyst price target cuts only highlighted this disappointment. Ultimately, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the specialty tech company's shares plummeted by over 15% this week. Top-line growth, bottom-line slide U.K.-based Arm published its results for the first quarter of its fiscal 2026 on Wednesday. The report showed that the company managed to increase its total revenue by 12% year over year to slightly more than $1.05 billion. That was largely due to a 25% increase in royalty revenue, which landed at $585 million, and despite a 1% slump in licensing revenue to $468 million. Non- GAAP (adjusted) net income traveled in the opposite direction. It fell to $374 million, or $0.35 per share, compared with the year-ago profit of $419 million. With those numbers, Arm met the consensus analyst estimate for profitability, although it missed slightly on revenue -- pundits following the stock were expecting it to earn $1.06 billion. More of a concern for investors was management's guidance for the company's current (second) quarter. Its forecast is for $1.01 billion to $1.11 billion in revenue, which, if achieved, would be down or, at best, essentially flat over the first quarter. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings were forecast at $0.29 to $0.37. Bearish analyst moves Although analyst reactions to the quarter were mixed, enough pundits trimmed their price targets to affect sentiment on the stock. UBS 's Timothy Arcuri, for one, shaved his fair value assessment to $175 per Arm share from his preceding $185. He did, however, maintain his buy recommendation. Lee Simpson of Morgan Stanley acted similarly, reducing the price target to $180 per share from $194 while keeping an overweight (buy, in other words) rating intact. Should you invest $1,000 in Arm Holdings right now? Before you buy stock in Arm Holdings, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Arm Holdings wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $625,254!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,090,257!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,036% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025
CTV News
15 hours ago
- CTV News
U.S. Fed governor to resign early at critical time for central bank
U.S. Federal Reserve governor Adriana Kugler is resigning from her position, the central bank said Friday, opening a vacancy that U.S. President Donald Trump can fill as he presses his campaign to drop interest rates. Kugler, who was nominated by former U.S. president Joe Biden in 2023, did not give a reason for stepping down from the Fed's board. Her term was due to end in January 2026, but her departure -- effective August 8 -- gives Trump the chance to appoint someone new to the Fed sooner than anticipated, shaping its leadership. Trump said he was 'very happy' about the upcoming vacancy, after Kugler submitted her letter of resignation to him. The personnel shift comes as the Fed faces intensifying pressure under Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the central bank's chief Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates sooner. Trump has also suggested that what he says is an overly costly renovation of the Fed's headquarters could be a reason to oust Powell, before backing off the threat. Powell's term as Fed chair ends in May 2026. Kugler did not attend the Fed's two-day policy meeting this week due to a personal matter, and did not vote on its decision. In a mid-July speech, she made the case for holding rates at the current level for some time, citing inflationary pressures and relatively low unemployment levels. 'It has been an honor of a lifetime to serve on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,' Kugler wrote in her resignation letter. Fed policymakers have approached further rate cuts with caution -- since their last reduction in December -- as they assess the impact of Trump's wide-ranging and fluctuating tariffs on inflation. They expect to have a better gauge of the duties' effects after data from the summer months, given that tariffs take time to filter through the economy. But Trump has urged for interest rate reductions, and for the benchmark lending rate to be lowered by as much as three percentage points. Early Friday, Trump touted the fact that two Fed governors voted against the central bank's Wednesday decision to keep rates unchanged again. He said on social media: 'STRONG DISSENTS ON FED BOARD. IT WILL ONLY GET STRONGER!' He also called Powell a 'stubborn moron' and said the Fed's board should 'assume control' if Powell continued to support holding rates steady. Kugler is expected to return to Georgetown University as a professor this year, the Fed said Friday.
