Corporate results weigh on global shares; oil rallies

By Lewis Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. and European stocks retreated on Wednesday amid disappointing corporate earnings, while oil prices surged for a second day as data showed U.S. crude inventories fell unexpectedly last week.

The U.S. dollar (.DXY) fell 0.5 percent against a basket of currencies after rallying for six consecutive days, as investors looked to book profits. The yen rebounded 0.7 percent against the dollar (JPY=), halting declines against the greenback as Japan has threatened to intervene on its currency.

U.S. Treasuries extended their price gains after a strong government auction of $23 billion in 10-year notes.

Major U.S. stock indexes fell about 1 percent, while MSCI's broad gauge of global stocks slid 0.5 percent. On Tuesday, the global index had climbed nearly 1.1 percent, its best session in about a month, while the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 had tallied its best day in about two months.

“Traders are kind of pulling back on their horns, taking a little bit of risk off the table, looking for a reason to take some profit,” said Jason Ware, chief investment officer at Albion Financial Group in Salt Lake City.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 217.23 points, or 1.21 percent, to 17,711.12, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 19.93 points, or 0.96 percent, to 2,064.46 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 49.19 points, or 1.02 percent, to 4,760.69.

The S&P and Nasdaq each snapped three-day winning streaks.

Disappointing profit reports from Disney (DIS.N) and Macy's (M.N) hurt stocks, with Disney the biggest drag on the Dow and the S&P 500, and Macy's weighing on retailers.

"We're getting a lot of news on U.S. consumers today and it isn't good news," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index fell 0.5 percent after two sessions of gains. Outdoor advertising group JC Decaux (JCDX.PA) was among the worst performers after a weak outlook.

The MSCI world index is now nearly flat for 2016 with stocks rebounding after a rough start to the year but little changed in recent weeks. Concerns about the global economy persist and investors are responding to diverging policies between the U.S. Federal Reserve and other major central banks.

The dollar fell back from near two-week highs as investors booked profits on a day with no major U.S. economic data.

"The dollar's bias hasn't meaningfully brightened given deep market scepticism in the Federal Reserve firing an interest rate hike in the near future," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.

Oil prices jumped. The U.S. government reported crude inventories fell unexpectedly for the first time since March, adding to concerns over supply disruptions in Canada and Nigeria.

Benchmark Brent (LCOc1) settled up 4.6 percent at $47.60 a barrel, while U.S. crude (CLc1) settled up 3.5 percent at $46.23 a barrel. Oil prices have recovered some ground after touching 12-year lows earlier in 2016.

The Treasury's 10-year note sale occurred at a high yield of 1.71 percent, below the roughly 1.73 percent level that the debt had traded at before the sale.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were up 7/32 in price to yield 1.7350 percent in afternoon trading, from a close of 1.76 percent on Tuesday.

Spot gold (XAU=) rose 0.9 percent as the decline in the dollar and shares globally rekindled investors' appetite for the precious metal.

(Additional reporting by Barani Krishnan, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Karen Brettell in New York, Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru and Jamie McGeever in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski and James Dalgleish)