Stocks fall in US and Europe, jump in Japan

Stocks were mostly down on Thursday.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 fell 0.3 percent.

However, the Nikkei 225 surged 2.7 percent.

US crude oil fell 2.3 percent.

Joe Tanious, strategist at Bessemer Trust, said “it’s very difficult to identify drivers that can move the market a heck of a lot higher from here”.

A move higher by US stocks is also made more difficult by the continued hesitancy of Americans to invest in the stock market.

A Gallup survey showed that only 52 percent say they currently have money invested in the stock market, matching the lowest ownership rate in the poll’s 19-year history.