On Wall Street, all three major indices closed lower ahead of earnings from artificial intelligence titan Nvidia, with US Treasury bond yields ticking higher.
The US chip designer’s shares jumped after the bell on news it had reported better-than-expected earnings despite increased export controls, recording a profit of US$18.8 billion on revenue of US$44.1 billion.
Minutes from the most recent Federal Reserve meeting also published on Wednesday reported that US firms had warned the US central bank that the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs would likely be borne by consumers.
Earlier, London, Paris and Frankfurt all closed lower, following Asia’s lead.
Oil prices rise
Crude prices surged more than two percent on Wednesday before paring some gains, ahead of an Opec meeting to discuss output and hiked tensions over Russia and Iran.
Trump’s rare rebuke Tuesday of Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over stepped-up attacks on Ukraine – saying he was “playing with fire” – raised the prospect of tougher US sanctions on Russian energy and banking sectors.
US-Iran talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear programme have also yielded no breakthrough so far, additionally fuelling speculation of tightened sanctions.
The US dollar picked up against major currencies, but analysts said that masked a fundamental weakness in the greenback, and in the US debt market, evident in recent weeks.
“It’s the creeping realisation that US assets no longer provide the same refuge,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. “Dollar strength is no longer reflexive – it’s contested.”
Investors ‘looking past tariffs’
Europe and Asia fell after a rally over the previous two days triggered by Trump’s announcement that he was pausing threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union to give space for trade negotiations.
“The market no longer takes Trump at his word when he delivers swathing tariff hikes seemingly at random,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“It looks as if investors are looking past tariffs, assuming that all will be for the best, in the best of all worlds,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation. “This Panglossian view could be severely tested, and a US-EU deal could prove hard to achieve.”
In Europe, auto giant Stellantis, which makes Jeep, Peugeot, Chrysler and Fiat vehicles, named North America chief Antonio Filosa as its next chief executive, succeeding Carlos Tavares, who was sacked in December.
“To give him full authority and ensure an efficient transition, the Board has granted him CEO powers effective June 23,” the company said.
Stellantis’s shares closed more than two percent lower in Milan.