Stocks falter on Trump, Fiat diesel travails

New York - Global stocks fell on Thursday and the US dollar sank as investors showed signs Wall Street's post-election rally could be stalling.

New York had a tumultuous trading day, with the Nasdaq snapping a seven-day winning streak and stocks falling before 16:00 GMT on news US authorities accused auto maker Fiat Chrysler of evading diesel emissions rules.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq fell 0.3%.

The S&P 500 gave up 0.2%. The disappointment saw traders shift out of the dollar towards the yen, which in turn dragged on Tokyo's Nikkei, which closed down 1.2%.

Indices across Europe were flat or down, with the DAX 30 giving up 1.1%.

On Wall Street, trading in Fiat Chrysler was briefly suspended and the stock fished down 10.3%.

US stocks already had been heading south by mid-morning after a news conference by President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, his first since the summer, failed to deliver policy specifics on anticipated economic stimulus, deregulation and tax cuts.

Investors did not seem impressed by Trump's performance, analysts at Moneycorp said in a note.
"What they had been hoping for was stuff about tax cuts, infrastructure spending and financial deregulation," Moneycorp said.

"What they got was gripes about US intelligence services, unsupportive newspapers, Mexican imports and the price of medicines. The whole thing smacked more of tariffs and protectionism than of stimulus."

Major US indices have rallied steadily since the US election, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average coming to within shouting distance of the 20 000-point milestone.

"In reality, the surge (of world stock markets) was already running on air, with US markets in particularly having essentially gone nowhere since mid-December," said Chris Beauchamp at IG.

"This fact was masked by the ongoing hope of Dow 20 000, but it looks like this has been scrubbed from the timetable for the next few weeks."

Rather than specifics on policies, Trump on Wednesday lashed out at drug makers for "getting away with murder" in offshoring production and overcharging for medicines, which weighed on the pharmaceuticals sector.

The dollar index hit its lowest levels since early December, with the US currency briefly dipping below ¥114 before recovering.

David Gilmore of Foreign Exchange Analytics said the dollar had also softened on investor fears that post-Trump euphoria might not last.