NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The global stock rally showed signs of petering out Thursday as oil prices stagnated and analysts expressed worry that another bout of selling could be imminent.
After three straight days of solid gains, US stocks closed lower, with the Nasdaq down the most at 1.0 percent.
London also lost 1.0 percent with metals and oil equities falling sharply after Wednesday’s bounce. Frankfurt gained 0.9 percent, while Paris edged up 0.2 percent.
Brent oil prices declined after US stockpiles increased again and Saudi Arabia ruled out cutting oil production.
Also of concern to analysts were declines many growth-oriented US technology stocks, such as Amazon, Facebook and Netflix.
Banking shares were weak, with Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Britain’s Barclays and France’s Societe Generale all lower.
Stocks in the US and Europe have stabilized over the last week or so after a bruising January. But analysts are not sure if the better performance marks a true shift in market dynamics, or merely a respite until more selling resumes.
“We really have to see what the market is up to over the next couple of days,” said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management.
“Whether it’s a bear-market rally that is about to fizzle out and go back to its lows by the end of next week, or whether you have buyers step back up.”
“It’s really a critical point at this juncture.”
The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development trimmed its 2016 global growth forecast to 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent, citing slowing growth in emerging economies, sluggish demand, weak investment and a high risk of financial instability.
British-listed mining shares that fell included Anglo-American, which lost 7.7 percent, and Rio Tinto, which shed 3.2 percent. Royal Dutch Shell lost 3.2 percent.
Wal-Mart Stores tumbled 3.0 percent after trimming its 2017 sales forecast due to the strong dollar and the impact of store closures. Earnings were also dented by weakness in some of Walmart’s major growth markets, including Brazil and China.
IBM jumped 5.1 percent as it announced a $2.6 billion acquisition of Truven Health Analytics, a provider of cloud-based healthcare data. The deal is part of IBM’s effort to beef up its “Watson” big-data technology.
Morgan Stanley upgraded IBM, saying its transformation to more of a cloud-based business is “underappreciated.”
– Key figures around 2200 GMT –
New York – Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 16,413.43 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.5 percent at 1,917.83 (close)
New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 1.0 percent at 4,487.54 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 5,971.95 points (close)
Frankfurt – DAX 30: UP 0.9 percent at 9,463.64 (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 4,239.76 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 2,895.15 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 2.3 percent at 16,196.80 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng: UP 2.3 percent at 19,363.08 (close)
Shanghai – composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 2,862.89 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1105 from $1.1126 on Wednesday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 113.24 yen from 114.05 yen
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