Europe's Traders Exit Ahead of Weekend as Nasdaq Rises on Tech
European shares closed mostly lower yesterday as traders exited their positions ahead of the weekend. The France's CAC led the declines, falling by 1.68%, while Italian and Spanish shares also finished under pressure.
The German DAX was the lone bright spot in Europe, managing a modest gain of 0.27%. In contrast to the weakness in equities, benchmark 10-year yields moved mostly higher across major markets, with Germany and France leading the move.
The US dollar traded lower against most major currencies, except for the British pound, which fell by just 0.01% against the greenback. Meanwhile, in the US equity market, tech-heavy Nasdaq indices received a boost from strong earnings reports from Nvidia and Salesforce, driving the Dow Industrial Average up by 167 points or 0.31%.
On the economic front, the US goods trade deficit ballooned to $118.80 billion, wider than expected. However, initial jobless claims came in below estimate at 203,000, showing little evidence of increased layoffs.