By Caitlin Ostroff 

-- European stocks waver, Asia mostly down

-- Gold, crude prices drop

-- GM and S&P Global due to report earnings

Global stocks wavered a day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates but its chairman didn't signal that more stimulus was on the way.

The Stoxx Europe 600 shifted between small gains and losses in morning trading, with rises for banks and financial services balancing a drop in the basic-resources sector.

Shares of U.K. medical-device maker ConvaTec Group jumped 16% after it reported falling profit in the first half of the year but backed its full-year guidance. London Stock Exchange Group shares also climbed, by 6.6%, after it confirmed Thursday it will buy Refinitiv.

Shares for German industrial giant Siemens AG fell 4.8% after it reported a drop in its quarterly profits and said a weakening global economic environment was hurting its key industrial businesses. Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said "geopolitics and geoeconomics are harming an otherwise positive investment sentiment."

Royal Dutch Shell saw shares slide 5% after profits plunged. The company cited lower oil and gas prices and weaker refining margins, outweighing a rise in production.

In Asia, both China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.8%.

The People's Bank of China has often adjusted interest rates in response to Fed policy moves, but that didn't happen following Wednesday's cut, said Julian Evans-Pritchard, a senior China economist for Capital Economics.

"I think the fact that they didn't follow the Fed with a cut is a disappointment to some," he said.

The latest round of U.S.-China trade talks also concluded Wednesday without any compromise, though both sides described the talks as constructive. The next round will be held in September.

U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell disappointed investors when he rolled back expectations for future interest-rate cuts.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged up on Thursday to 2.054%, from 2.034% on Wednesday. Yields rise when bond prices fall.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the currency against a basket of its peers, climbed 0.2%.

In commodities, global benchmark Brent crude fell 1.3% to $64.20 a barrel. Gold dropped 1.5%.

Corporate earnings for the second quarter have so far surprised investors with a stream of better-than-expected results. Investors will be looking to see if that continues with many reports due today from firms including Cigna Corp., General Motors Co. and Verizon Communications Inc.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2019 05:32 ET (09:32 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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