U.S. stocks closed unevenly on Tuesday. At the close in New York, the Dow climbed to 50,188 points, a 0.1 % gain from the previous day. The Nasdaq 100 finished 0.6 % lower at 25,128 points, while the broader S&P 500 ended the session at 6,942 points, down 0.3 %.
“Retail sales in the U.S. showed a published stagnation, falling short of the expected 0.4 % increase” said Andreas Lipkow, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. He added that consumer spending already exhibits a noticeable cooling trend, which can be traced to a weakening labor market. Lipkow emphasized the importance of tomorrow’s data on the newly created jobs in January, as it will reveal whether the negative trend merely persists or is actually accelerating.
The euro was slightly weaker that evening, trading at 1.1894 USD per euro, which means one U.S. dollar was worth 0.8408 euro.
Gold prices slipped, with a fine ounce priced at $5,029, a 0.6 % drop, equivalent to about €135.94 per gram. Meanwhile, Brent crude rose modestly to $69.06 per barrel at 10 p.m. German time, up 2 cents-or 0.0 %-from the previous day’s close.
