The China Mail - Dollar, US bonds under pressure as Trump pushes tax bill

Wall Street was trading lower, while European share markets were mixed at their close. The US dip extended losses from Tuesday, which had ended a six-day rally.

Much US attention on Wednesday was focused on a push by Republicans to pass US President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" to cut taxes. They are aiming for a vote in the House of Representatives later this week.

The US bill has "helped to push tariff and trade war concerns off the front pages", David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said.

While New York stock market losses were restrained -- and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was trading higher -- analysts worried that the US bond market, already weakened by a credit-rating downgrade by Moody's, could deepen a months-long slump.

"A bond market crisis is exactly the sort of event that could send stocks tumbling and volatility surging," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

"It's also harder to recover from compared to the man-made tariff crisis," she added.

US and Japanese finance ministers were likely to touch on their currency policies at a G7 meeting going on in Canada, he said.

Bitcoin on Wednesday hit a new record high, of $109,499.90, as investors eyed new US legislation on cryptocurrency with optimism.

In Europe, London's FTSE closed slightly up, despite inflation data coming in higher than expected, which analysts said could slow the pace of interest rate cuts by the Bank of England.

Germany's DAX also ended in positive territory. But the CAC in Paris ended lower.

An initial surge in crude prices spurred by a CNN report that Israel was planning a strike on Iranian nuclear sites reversed direction after a surprise announcement by the US Energy Information Administration that the country's oil stocks had risen last week.

There was also speculation the report had been a leak designed to put pressure on Iran in its negotiations with Washington on rolling back its nuclear programme.

Worries over the impact of Trump's tariffs -- and what will happen when a suspension of the more extreme ones expires -- were still reflected in the markets.

But Mexico said on Wednesday it had obtained a cut in the duties levelled at its auto imports into the United States.

Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Washington had agreed to levy 15 percent instead of 25 percent.

- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 5,927.06 points

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 42,338.80

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 19,195.58

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,786.46 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,910.49 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 24,122.40 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 37,298.98 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 23,827.78 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,387.57 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 42,677.24 (close)

Bitcoin: UP, new record at $109,499.80

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1336 from $1.1284 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3440 from $1.3391

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 143.67 yen from 144.47 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.36 pence from 84.26 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.6 percent at $64.98 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $61.66 per barrel

F.Brown--ThChM