While you were sleeping: Goldman drops, Netflix jumps

Wall Street was mixed as shares of Goldman Sachs declined on disappointing revenue from its bond trading, while shares of Netflix soared after it reported better-than-expected subscriber growth.

The US dollar slid, hitting its lowest level against the euro in a year, amid concern about President Donald Trump's ability to progress with his plans to boost the economy as his health-care reform efforts appeared to go nowhere.

"The setback for Trump is a setback for the US dollar," Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York, told Reuters. "Based upon the failed repeal of Obamacare, I think that really casts doubt on the Trump administration's broader strategies."

While the greenback will draw some support from another Federal Reserve interest rate increase expected later in the year, current sentiment is tepid.

"Near term, the [US] dollar path of least resistance is down," Rodrigo Catril, a currency strategist at National Australia Bank in Sydney, told Bloomberg. "We still think the data-inflation in particular will provide the Fed with enough ammunition to hike in December and boost the dollar, but this is a fourth-quarter story."

Others agree that the appetite for the US dollar might be limited.

"The combination of low inflation, low rates and low reform momentum give investors little reason to hold [US] dollars," John Normand, head of FX, commodities and international rates research at JPMorgan Chase, wrote in a report Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, US Treasuries rose, sending yields on the 10-year note five basis points lower to 2.263% from 2.309% on Tuesday.

Dow falls 55 points
Wall Street was mixed. At the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54.99 points, or 0.25%, to 21,574.73. However, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.5% to 6344.31, bolstered by a rally in Netflix shares. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended 0.06% lower at 2460.61.

The Nasdaq touched a record high 6,344.55.

Shares of streaming media company Netflix jumped 13.5% to $US183.60, beating the company's previous all-time high of $US166.87, set last month.

That came after the company posted quarterly results that surpassed expectations including that it added 5.2 million subscriber memberships during the quarter.

The Dow fell as declines in shares of Goldman Sachs and Home Depot, down 2.6% and 1.2% respectively, outweighed gains in shares of Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, up 1.7% and 1.1% respectively.

Goldman Sachs dropped after the bank posted earnings that disappointed when it came to commodities and bond trading.

Bank of America declined 0.5% after it fell short of expectations in its net interest income.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the session with a drop of 1.1% from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 Index fell 0.2%, while France's CAC40 Index slid 1.1% and Germany's DAX Index dropped 1.3%.

Weighing on the mood in Europe were shares of Ericsson, which sank 16% after the company's latest quarterly earnings failed to meet expectations.

(BusinessDesk)