Netherlands stocks lower at close of trade; AEX down 1.02%

Category: Stock Market

Netherlands stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Healthcare, Oil&Gas and Telecoms sectors led shares lower.At the close in Amsterdam, the AEX lost 1.02%.The best performers of the session on the AEX were ArcelorMittal SA (AS:ISPA), which rose 1.16% or 0.05 points to trade at 4.70 at the close. Meanwhile, ABN AMRO Group NV (AS:ABNd) added 1.00% or 0.18 points to end at 18.75 and Boskalis Westmin (AS:BOSN) was up 0.84% or 0.30 points to 36.11 in late trade.The worst performers of the session were Royal Dutch Shell A (AS:RDSa), which fell 2.76% or 0.62 points to trade at 21.84 at the close. KPN Kon (AS:KPN) declined 1.65% or 0.057 points to end at 3.393 and ING Groep NV (AS:ING) was down 1.64% or 0.170 points to 10.210.Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange by 113 to 48 and 9 ended unchanged.The AEX Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of AEX options, was up 1.45% to 23.94.Crude oil for June delivery was up 0.27% or 0.12 to $43.77 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July fell 0.42% or 0.19 to hit $44.78 a barrel, while the June Gold contract fell 0.88% or 11.35 to trade at $1280.45 a troy ounce.EUR/USD was down 0.05% to 1.1492, while EUR/GBP rose 0.25% to 0.7930.The US Dollar Index was up 0.25% at 93.25.

Forex - Aussie holds weaker in Asia as investors expect easier policy

Category: Forex

The Aussie fell sharply after major oil producers failed to reach a deal on an output freeze that has implications for monetary policy as crude oil prices dipped sharply on the news.AUD/USD traded down 0.76% to 0.7666, while USD/JPY changed hands at 108.11, down 0.62%. Weaker oil prices are seen as aiding current easy monetary policies globally.New Zealand said first quarter consumer prices rose 0.2%, more than the 0.1% seen quarter-on-quarter and a 0.4% gain seen year-on-year which came in as expected.NZD/USD traded down 0.16% to 0.6906. The data are in line with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's projections in its March Monetary Policy Statement, according to ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley."Overall, the data published by Stats NZ suggest that, although core inflation pressure is still low, they are starting to lift which may provide the RBNZ with confidence that inflation expectations will also stabilize and recover," Tuffley said.In China, house prices rose 4.9% for March year-on-year, above the 3.6% gain seen.The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose 0.01% to 94.69.In the week ahead the economic calendar is light, with the U.S. set to release housing sector data.

The European Central Bank will hold its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and the euro zone is to release data on private sector activity on Friday.Last week, the dollar slid against the other major currencies on Friday following the release of lackluster U.S. economic reports, but the greenback still ended the week higher.The drop in the dollar came after reports showing that U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March and consumer sentiment deteriorated slightly this month.The University of Michigan said the preliminary reading of its consumer sentiment index came in at 89.7 in April, down from 91.0 in March and lower than the 92.0 reading forecast by economists.Another report showed that U.S. industrial output fell 0.6% in March, worse than the 0.1% decline economists had expected.The reports underlined the view that the Federal Reserve is likely to stick to a cautious approach on future interest rates increases.