US stocks return from holiday to set new records

Wall Street returned from a long holiday weekend to set new records amid solid corporate earnings reports and optimism for profits in 2018 due to a US tax reform. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.8 percent in initial trades to rise for the first time above the 26,000 mark. It later gave up some of those gains. "American markets were shut yesterday as the US celebrated Martin Luther King Jr Day, and they are making up for lost ground today," said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK.

"The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 have all reached new record highs today, although we have seen a pullback," he added. Citigroup shares climbed 1.1 percent as, while taking a $22 billion charge due to changes in tax rules that pushed it into a loss of $18.3 billion for the quarter. Without the tax charge earnings were higher than in the same period last year, and the bank said it should benefit to changes to the tax law going forward.

Eurozone stock markets rose on the coattails of Asia, while London slid as thanks to heavyweight energy and mining stocks. London's FTSE 100 still flirted briefly with new all-time high, however, as sterling dropped on official data showing that UK annual inflation pulled back in December from a near six-year peak. But by the afternoon it was trading down and closed 0.2 percent lower. The euro meanwhile came off a three-year high versus the dollar struck on Monday, while oil futures retreated also from their highest levels since 2015 that were reached at the start of the week.

That helped eurozone stocks advance, with the CAC 40 index in Paris adding 0.07 percent and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt climbing 0.4 percent. The euro is "finally seeing some weakness after its remarkable bounce of late", said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group. He noted also that "sterling's impressive rally over the past nine months has helped cool imported inflation" into the UK, in turn lessening the prospect of further rate tightening from the Bank of England.

"Perhaps they won't have to raise rates this year after all, although one reading does not constitute a trend," added Beauchamp after UK annual inflation dipped to 3.0 percent from 3.1 percent. The European single currency on Monday almost broke $1.23 for the first time since December 2014 on strong economic data and after a key member of the European Central Bank hinted that it could start cutting back its bond-buying stimulus by September.

In company share price movement on Tuesday, BP shed 2.7 percent after the British energy giant said it will take an additional charge of $1.7 billion (1.4 billion euros) for last year linked to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster in 2010. Heavyweight miners were also lower, with Rio Tinto down 3.0 percent and BHP Billiton dropping 2.4 percent. Stock markets mostly rose in Asia on Tuesday, with Hong Kong clocking its highest-ever close.

While there were few leads from Wall Street owing to a public holiday in the US on Monday, investors continued to push into equity markets in Asia and maintaining a healthy start to 2018. Tokyo's main stocks index climbed one percent to a more than 26-year high and Shanghai added 0.8 percent. - Key figures around 1635 GMT - London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,755.93 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.4 percent at 13,246.

33 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.07 percent at 5,513.82 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,617.88 New York - DOW: UP 0.6 percent at 25,956.63 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 23,951.81 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.8 percent at 31,904.75 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.8 percent at 3,436.59 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.2227 from $1.2265 at 1635 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3765 from $1.3806 Dollar/yen: UP at 110.77 yen from 110.56 yen Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN 80 cents at $69.46 per barrel Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 33 cents at $63.97

Source: AFP