Earnings season rolls on with notable highlights including Twitter, UBS and Total. ECB policy makers could on Thursday confirm that asset purchases will end this year, reiterating its pledge to keep interest rates at record lows through summer 2019. President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference. U.S. gross domestic product growth may have slowed in the third quarter, yet remained near its best pace since mid-2015, according to forecasts ahead of Friday’s release.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
The S&P 500 dropped 3.1 percent to 2,656.29 as of 4:02 p.m. in New York, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 2.4 percent to 24,584.71 and the Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 4.4 percent to 7,108.40. The Stoxx Europe 600 slipped 0.2 percent, the sixth consecutive decline. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent, the first increase in three days. Germany’s DAX Index slumped 0.7 percent, the sixth straight drop. The MSCI Emerging Market Index eased 0.7 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 0.4 percent.
Currencies
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was 0.4 percent stronger, reaching the highest level of the year. The euro declined 0.7 percent to $1.1391. The British pound fell 0.7 percent to $1.2898. The Japanese yen was little changed at 112.39 per dollar.
Bonds
The yield on 10-year Treasuries dropped seven basis points to 3.10 percent, while the two-year note yield fell five basis points to 2.83 percent. Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 0.40 percent.
Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2 percent to $66.30 a barrel. Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,233.03 an ounce.