The S&P 500 and the Dow scaled record highs on Wednesday as hopes of a working COVID-19 vaccine and fresh economic stimulus before the end of the year lifted demand for economically sensitive energy and financial shares.
That saw a slide in ASX futures, aided by a slump in gold prices and weak oil prices as well.
Iron ore prices rose, topping $US150,00 a tonne for the first time since early 2013 but the slide on Wall Street and lower gold prices will more than offset that.
But then sentiment changed and down they went, led by a sagging Nasdaq which ended the session down more than 2%, a nasty fall.
At the close Nasdaq lost 1.94%, to 12,328.95.
The Dow lost 0.35%, to 30,068.81 and the S&P 500 shed 0.79%, to 3,672.28 after those early hit all-time highs.
The ASX is looking at a slide from the get-go today with the overnight futures trade showing a 37 point loss for the ASX 200. It was 48 points down just before 6am.
That was after another rise locally on Wednesday.
The ASX 200 rose 0.6% to a new nine-month high of 6,728.5 as iron ore prices again improved again and consumer sentiment hit a decade-high amid encouraging vaccine developments.
The ASX hit a new eight-month intraday high of 6,745.3 during Wednesday’s session and has now gained 3.2% for December so far. That will be trimmed today.
US investors are waiting news on further US economic relief as the coronavirus pandemic continued to take its toll on the economy.
The House of Representatives was due to vote Wednesday on a one-week stopgap funding bill that will get more time to reach a deal on COVID-19 relief, with separate aid packages of more than $US900 billion up for discussion.
That saw US bond yields reverse course and rise to around 0.94% – more on hope than anything concrete.
Gold prices fell with the Comex current month price down 1.9% to $US1838.50. The start of vaccinations in the UK and Canadian approval of a vaccine were blamed.
Oil prices were weak on surprise news of a surge in US oil stocks.
Prices fell 1% earlier in the session as data showed US crude inventories rose by 15.2 million barrels to 503.2 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration, weekly report.
Prices later edged higher Brent crude rose 8 cents, or 0.2%, to $US48.92 a barrel. In New York, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also rose 8 cents to $US45.68.
