European stocks continued sliding Tuesday as the dollar
strengthened against the euro on worries about Spain's hesitation
to ask for a full-blown bailout.
IShares MSCI Italy Index (
EWI
), down 3%, fell the most among nonleveraged foreign ETFs. This
appears to be a normal pullback from overbought conditions after
rising abnormally high above its moving averages last week. It's
vaulted 10.15% so far this month and its uptrend remains
intact.
IShares MSCI Spain Index (
EWP
), down 1.67%, also pulled back from overbought conditions. It's
climbed 12.25% so far this month. The country's deputy prime
minister is still considering the terms of a bailout, which would
unleash a European Central Bank bond-buying program.
IShares MSCI EAFE Index (
EFA
), tracking developed foreign markets, gave back 0.37%.
"The markets seem to be following the previous Q1 and Q2
(quantitative easing) scripts that saw the initial euphoric rise
capped by profit-taking," wrote Andrew Taylor, market strategist
at GFT. "Equities and commodities will be looking for a solid
wall of buying interest from which to build for moves
higher."
CurrencyShares Euro Trust (
FXE
), down 0.55%, retreated from a four-month high.
PowerShares DB U.S.
Dollar Index Bullish (
UUP
), up 0.32%, gained ground as it found support at an 11-month
low.
Early signs of economic improvement suggest the worst of the
global economic weakness has passed and that the global markets
could rally through year-end, according to Alejandra Grindal,
senior international economist at Ned Davis Research.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's
composite leading indicators (CLI) fell in July to its lowest
level since October 2009, but the size of the declines has been
getting smaller over the past two months, Grindal wrote in a
report.
"Unlike many other macro indicators, the CLI follows a clean
and predictable pattern of declining at a slower rate, before
eventually rising," Grindal stated. "Our breadth indicators of
the individual country CLIs have stabilized. Typically,
country breadth deteriorates when the global economy is set to
worsen, contrary to what's been happening recently."
The OECD is a 50-year-old organization involving 40 member
countries that account for 80% of global trade. It aims to
support policies to improve global economic and social
well-being."
IShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM), up 0.04%, closed
nearly flat.
Follow Trang Ho on Twitter
@TrangHoETFs
.