Global Stocks Waver as Gold and Bitcoin Soar
June 25 2019 - 7:56AM
Dow Jones News
By Will Horner -- Allergan jumps almost 30% in early trading on AbbVie takeover
-- Gold rallied and government bond yields slipped
-- Bitcoin advanced 4.5%, reaching a one-year high
U.S. stock futures slipped Tuesday, along with shares in Europe
and Asia, as investors turned to haven assets such as Treasurys and
gold.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 futures were
both down roughly 0.2%. Allergan PLC soared 29% in premarket
trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that AbbVie Inc. has
reached a deal to buy the company for more than $60 billion. The
news prompted a 7% slide in AbbVie's stock.
In Europe, U.K. stocks were among the worst performers, with the
FTSE 100, sliding 0.2% on a day that saw the benchmark Stoxx Europe
600 index largely unchanged. One of the few bright spots for
investors was in Capgemini and smaller rival Altran Technologies:
the stocks soared after the French companies agreed to merge,
sending Altran shares up almost 22% while Capgemini advanced
7.5%.
Meanwhile, gold prices jumped 1.1% to their highest level this
year before trading at $1433.40 a troy ounce. The precious metal
has gained 13% so far in 2019.
Bitcoin also extended its gains, reaching a record for the past
year as it again crossed the $11,000 threshold. The world's most
popular cryptocurrency has soared 35% this month, boosted in part
by the unveiling of Facebook Inc.'s Libra digital currency for
mainstream users last week.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.4%, the Hang Seng in Hong
Kong slipped 1.2% and China's benchmark Shanghai composite fell
0.9%.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which falls as the
price rises, dipped to 2.014%, from 2.021% on Monday.
U.S. markets are gearing up for a busy day of speeches from
Federal Reserve policy makers Tuesday as they look for clues on the
course of U.S. monetary policy.
Investors this week have also largely held back from making big
moves as their focus has shifted to the G-20 summit in Japan due to
begin on Friday. A planned meeting between President Trump and
Chinese President Xi Jinping at the summit is seen as a potentially
crucial moment in the trade dispute between the two nations. The
skirmish has roiled markets this year and threatened to further
weaken the global economy, which has already shown signs of
flagging after a long period of expansion.
"Prudence is still justified because obviously the bar is quite
high for a truce between the U.S. and China on tariffs at this
week's G-20," said Kenneth Broux, a senior strategist at Société
Générale . "The danger is of course that everything ends in
acrimony and the whole moves of the past week or so reverse if the
U.S. decides to raise tariffs to 25% on the remaining $300 billion
[of Chinese goods]."
The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket
of its peers, was broadly flat.
Elsewhere in commodities, oil prices were mixed with global
benchmark Brent crude shedding 0.6% to $63.78 a barrel, while U.S.
benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 0.4% at $57.65.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 25, 2019 07:41 ET (11:41 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Allergan (NYSE:AGN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024