US equities closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones down 0.9% at 53'885 as it snapped a five-session run of record closes, the S&P 500 off 0.2% at 7'710 and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1% at 26'348. Beneath the headline the session was worse than it looked: the equal-weight S&P 500 fell 0.5%, the Russell 2000 lost 0.6% and the S&P 600 small-cap index dropped 0.8%, with nine of eleven sectors lower and energy the main
exception.
Europe was firmer, the STOXX 600 adding 0.2% to a record 658, while the FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% to 10'868 and the Swiss SMI eased 0.2% to 14'519.
In Asia this morning, Shanghai Composite closed up 0.9% at 3'937 and the Hang Seng up 0.3% at 25'611, while the Nikkei 225 ended marginally lower, down 0.1% at 65'607.
The driver of the rates move was crude: a sharp rebound in oil revived inflation concerns and pushed the US 10-year Treasury yield up more than five basis points to 4.68%, with the 2-year at 4.26%, leaving the curve modestly steeper but still pricing a Federal Reserve that may tighten rather than ease.
In commodities, Brent jumped 3.8% to just above $82 a barrel while gold slipped 0.2% to 4'239 dollars an ounce.
