Friday 18 July 2014

Stocks fall amid geopolitical tension, bubble concerns and plunge in US housing starts

Thursday saw a flight to safety in financial markets as tension escalated in Ukraine and the Middle East. The S&P 500 fell 1.2 percent, the US 10-year Treasury yield fell six basis points to 2.46 percent and gold rose 1.3 percent.

The decline in stocks also comes as investors have become increasingly concerned about market levels. A Bloomberg poll showed that forty-seven percent of financial professionals surveyed said that the equity market is close to unsustainable levels while fourteen percent already saw a bubble.

Adding to the negative sentiment, US housing data on Thursday came out weak. Housing starts fell 9.3 percent in June to a nine-month low while building permits fell 4.2 percent, its second consecutive decline.

No comments:

Post a Comment