Wall Street leaned toward small losses before markets opened Wednesday following another all-time high for the S&P 500.
Futures for the S&P 500 inched back 0.1%, as did futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Futures for the technology-heavy Nasdaq were unchanged.
The S&P 500 ticked up just 0.2% on Tuesday, enough to finish just above its all-time closing high set last month.
Homebuilder Toll Brothers slid 5.8% in the early going after it posted first-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street expectations. Sales and profit were both down from the same quarter a year ago, with the company pegging the uneven results so far this spring on affordability constraints and an abundance of inventory in some markets.
Later Wednesday morning, the government reports on U.S. housing starts and building permits for January, which analysts forecast to be down from December, in part due to challenging weather conditions.
Also later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve releases the minutes from its late January meeting when it left its benchmark interest rate alone after cutting it at its previous three meetings. The Fed has signaled a more cautious approach this year amid uncertainty over new policies implemented by President Donald Trump’s administration and lingering inflation that has remained above the U.S. central bank's 2% target.
Economists and investors will be looking for hints in those meeting notes about where Fed officials see the economy and interest rates heading in 2025.
Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with the Hang Seng Index falling 0.14% to 22,944.24, while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.81% to 3,351.54. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.27% to 39,164.61, following U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on car imports that if implemented would adversely impact Japan’s economy.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s KOSPI gained 1.7% to 2,671.52. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.73% to 8,419.20.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.7% and Germany’s DAX tumbled a full 1%.
Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.6% after the government reported that inflation in the U.K. hit a 10-month high last month, likely diminishing expectations of rapid interest rate reductions from the Bank of England. The consumer prices index rose to 3%, largely due to increases in airfares, food casts and private school fees in the wake of the new Labour government’s decision to impose a sales tax.
China’s technology stocks slumped Wednesday after a brief bull run earlier in the week. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-traded stock fell 1.74%, while search engine giant Baidu fell 2.05% after it reported a 2% drop in revenue for its fourth quarter compared to a year earlier as artificial intelligence rivalry heats up in China.
Chinese video games firm Tencent saw its stock slip 1.13% while online services firm Meituan declined 3.01%.
“Hong Kong and mainland China led the sell-off, deflating some of the air from the risk-on balloon that had been floating Asia’s market rebound,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management.
“Japanese stocks followed suit, with automakers Toyota and Honda taking a hit after Trump lobbed fresh threats — this time targeting autos, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals with potential 25% tariffs,” he added.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 66 cents to $72.49 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 61 cents to $76.45 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar weakened to 151.83 Japanese yen from 152.01 yen. The euro cost $1.0430, down from $1.0446.
“The euro continues to follow sentiment on the implications of Russia-U.S. talks, and we are starting to observe some signs of relative underperformance of European currencies that we suspect will be exacerbated by Trump’s more transactional approach to European NATO allies,” said Francesco Pesole, FX strategist at ING Economics.
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