· Stocks slipped on Wednesday as Wall Street digested mixed quarterly earnings results as well as President Donald Trump’s second State of the Union address.
· The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 21.22 points lower at 25,390.30 and ended a three-day winning streak. The S&P 500 fell 0.22 percent to 2,731.62, snapping a five-day winning streak, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.36 percent to about 7,375.28. Shares of tech-related companies like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google-parent Alphabet all declined at least 0.36 percent.
· Trump addressed issues like infrastructure spending, drug pricing and trade. He also appeared to soften his tone around funding for a border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump reiterated his belief the U.S. needs a border wall, but did not declare a state of emergency as he had previously threatened to do.
· The president also said China and the U.S. are working on a new trade deal, but noted it must “include real, structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce our chronic trade deficit, and protect American jobs.” (Read the full speech here).
Trade worries have been an overhang for global capital markets for nearly a year as China and the U.S. slap tariffs on billions of dollars worth of their goods. The two countries have set an early March deadline to come up with a permanent deal.
· Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Thursday. Shares declined overnight on Wall Street, while U.S.-China trade hopes are up as negotiations are set to continue.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped more than 0.2 percent in early trade while the Topix declined 0.46 percent as shares of Fast Retailing fell by 1.16 percent. Softbank Group soared more than 16 percent in morning trade, on the back of its announcement on Wednesday that it would purchase up to 600 billion yen ($5.46 billion) of stock in its largest ever buyback.
South Korea’s Kospi, on the other hand, rose 0.26 percent with shares of chipmaker SK Hynix jumping more than 2 percent.
Reference: CNBC
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