European benchmarks closed lower on Wednesday, led by France and Italy, while Wall Street pushed higher on Nasdaq strength. Treasury yields moved in mixed directions, and crude oil rallied more than 2% as gold and silver slipped.
European indices finished Wednesday's session in the red. France's CAC 40 dropped 71.36 points, or 0.89%, to 7,964.52, leading the region's declines. Italy's FTSE MIB fell 432.98 points, or 0.84%, to 51,371.97, and Germany's DAX lost 200.02 points, or 0.79%, to 25,199.20.
The UK's FTSE 100 held up better than its peers but still closed 30.69 points lower, or 0.29%, at 10,606.01. Spain's IBEX 35 declined 91.30 points, or 0.47%, to 19,426.20.
Wall Street gains as Nasdaq leads
The weakness in Europe contrasted with gains across major U.S. indices at the time of the snapshot. The Nasdaq Composite rose 289.05 points, or 1.08%, to 27,086.59, leading the move higher. The S&P 500 added 46.58 points, or 0.61%, to 7,717.43, while the Dow industrial average was essentially unchanged, up 2.02 points.
Yields diverge, dollar trades unevenly
U.S. Treasury yields moved in mixed directions, with the two-year yield down 1.45 basis points to 4.8745% while longer maturities edged higher. The 10-year yield rose 2.14 basis points to 5.2764%, and the 30-year yield climbed 3.81 basis points to 5.6328%. That combination steepens the yield curve.
The dollar traded unevenly, gaining against the euro, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar but losing ground against sterling, the Swiss franc and Canadian dollar. EURUSD traded at 1.1337, down 0.03%, while GBPUSD rose 0.23% to 1.3260.
Oil rallies, silver under pressure
In commodities, WTI crude futures rose $2.18, or 2.44%, to $91.56, keeping the $91.45 retracement level in focus for buyers looking to extend the recovery toward $92.75. Precious metals moved the other way: spot gold fell $20.59, or 0.49%, to $4,161.40, while silver dropped $1.1711, or 1.91%, to $60.284, the larger percentage decline of the two.
Higher longer-term Treasury yields provided a headwind for gold and silver even as equities and bitcoin moved higher. Bitcoin rose $594, or 0.71%, to $84,224, briefly touching $85,600 before pulling back below that level.
Source: Investinglive
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