US stocks end February in the red (Getty)
US stocks fell in trading on Tuesday, ending the month of February in the red zone, after conditions changed from what they were at the beginning of the month, when the first months of the year erased nearly a third of the losses of the ending year, before Federal Reserve officials intervened, to start In paving the way for markets to live with higher interest rates for longer periods.
Stocks ended the month’s trading on declines, which began in the last hour of today’s trading, and reached 0.7% in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 0.3% in the S&P 500, while it was 0.1% in the Nasdaq.
Despite a strong start to the year, all major indices posted their second negative month in the last three months, and the Dow Jones finished the month down 4.19%, while it was down 1.48% since the start of the year.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq lost 2.61% and 1.11% during the month, respectively, but they are still in the green zone since the beginning of the year, due to the gains achieved in the first months of the year.
European stocks declined in the last days of the month, but it ended with monthly increases, which was contributed by the results of the strong European companies’ business.
At the close of trading on Tuesday, the Stoxx 600 Index was down 0.32%, but ended the month up by 2.1%.
The German DAX index fell by 0.11%, while the British FTSE index fell by 0.74%, while the French CAC fell by 0.38%, during the last trading days of February.
Health care stocks led the losses in the European stock exchange, which fell by about 1.5% on Tuesday.
Today’s economic data revealed that inflation in France rose to 7.2% from 7%, exceeding expectations that stopped at 7%, while inflation in Spain jumped to 6.1% from 5.9%, greatly exceeding expectations in a Reuters poll that it would reach 5.5%.
Oil prices rose nearly 2% on Tuesday, erasing losses from the previous session, as hopes for a strong economic recovery in China dispelled concerns about raising US interest rates, which added to expectations of lower consumption in the world’s largest economy.
Brent crude futures for April delivery ended, up $1.44, or 1.8%, to reach $83.89 a barrel.
US West Texas crude futures rose $1.37, or 1.8%, to $77.05 a barrel.
“We’re getting to a point where we’re seeing some short-covering because it’s the end of the month,” Price Group analyst Phil Flynn told Reuters.