October 24th Morning Report

Thursday 24th October 2024

US markets closed lower on Wednesday, led lower by megacap stocks as US Treasury yields climbed and investors grew less confident about the outlook for strong rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, whil corporate news pressured McDonald's and Coca-Cola.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.99%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were down 0.96% and 1.64%.

Other key markets ended mixed. European stocks closed as follows: the FTSE100 (-0.58%), the Dax 30 (-0.23%), CAC 40 (-0.50%) and the STOXX (-0.34%). In Asia, the Hang Seng and Shanghai indices closed higher. The key Asian indices ended yesterday as follows: Nikkei 225(-0.80%), HSI (+1.27%) and the Shanghai Composite (+0.54%).

The yield on the US 10 - year note was at 4.234%, while the 2 - year note was at 4.076%. Oil was up to $70.87 per barrel, down 1.21%. The gold price was at US$2729.20 per ounce, down 1.11%.