Europe's equity markets end down while U.S. shares climb; crude strengthens, silver slips

Across the main European benchmarks, shares closed Wednesday on a downbeat note. The biggest fall came from France, with Italy and Germany next in line. Britain’s FTSE 100 fared comparatively well, though it too finished under water.

Here is how the region’s main gauges settled:

• The DAX in Germany slipped 200.02 points, or 0.79%, to 25,199.20.

• France’s CAC 40 lost 71.36 points, or 0.89%, closing at 7,964.52.

• The FTSE 100 in the UK retreated 30.69 points, or 0.29%, to 10,606.01.

• Spain’s IBEX 35 gave back 91.30 points, or 0.47%, ending at 19,426.20.

• Italy’s FTSE MIB fell 432.98 points, or 0.84%, to 51,371.97.

The European weakness was in clear contrast to the U.S. benchmarks, which were mostly higher when the snapshot was taken. The Nasdaq Composite was setting the pace, while the Dow had barely budged:

• The Dow industrial average stood at 51,357.15, up 2.02 points and essentially flat.

• The S&P 500 added 46.58 points, or 0.61%, to 7,717.43.

• The Nasdaq Composite climbed 289.05 points, or 1.08%, to 27,086.59.

• The Russell 2000 rose 5.95 points, or 0.21%, to 2,813.88.

• The Nasdaq 100 advanced 269.99 points, or 0.89%, to 30,609.33.

Over in U.S. government debt, Treasury yields were split: the two-year drifted down, while longer tenors ticked up. The effect was a steeper yield curve:

• The 2-year yield slipped 1.45 basis points to 4.8745%.

• The 5-year yield rose 0.85 basis points to 5.0715%.

• The 10-year yield climbed 2.14 basis points to 5.2764%.

• The 30-year yield gained 3.81 basis points to 5.6328%.

The U.S. dollar showed a similarly mixed picture. It strengthened versus the euro, the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar, while losing ground against sterling, the Swiss franc and the Canadian dollar. USDJPY was flat in the snapshot.

EURUSD traded at 1.1337, off 0.03%, while GBPUSD fetched 1.3260, up 0.23%. USDJPY changed hands at 157.28. USDCHF slipped 0.17% to 0.8351 and USDCAD eased 0.20% to 1.4216. AUDUSD fell 0.49% to 0.6949, while NZDUSD was 0.09% lower at 0.5634.

In commodity markets, crude was climbing while precious metals came under pressure:

• WTI crude futures rose $2.18, or 2.44%, to $91.56.

• Spot gold declined $20.59, or 0.49%, to $4,161.40.

• Silver dropped $1.1711, or 1.91%, to $60.284.

• Copper gained 0.10% to $6.6100.

• Bitcoin was up $594, or 0.71%, at $84,224.

Bitcoin attempted a push higher, carrying the price above its 100-hour and 200-hour moving averages at $83,844 and $84,788. The digital asset climbed as far as $85,600, then the attempt stalled and it dropped back below that level.

The rebound in oil keeps attention fixed on the $91.45 retracement mark. Buyers need to defend that level to give the recovery more momentum and open the route toward the nearly converged 100-hour and 200-hour moving averages in the area of $92.75. Below that, the floor around $88.79–$88.80 remains the key support area.

The stronger longer-dated Treasury yields act as a hindrance for gold and silver. Silver is posting the steeper percentage drop even while stock indexes and bitcoin push higher.