Global Stocks: Wall Street closes at record highs, Nikkei and Chinese stocks retreat

The Wall Street continued to rally on Monday setting new record closing highs. The S&P 500 closed +0.61% with a final quote of 2,117.39 points. The DOW JONES index rose +0.86% closing at 18,288.63 points. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined to 52.9 in February from 53.5 in January, missing expectations for a decline to 53.4. That was the lowest reading since January 2014. Personal spending decreased 0.2% in January, after a 0.3% fall in December. Personal income climbed 0.3% in January, after a 0.3% rise in December. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index excluding food and energy rose 0.1% in January, in line with expectations, after a flat reading in December.

Chinese stocks slumped after gaining yesterday on the Peoples Bank of China's rate cut over the weekend. The bank cut benchmark interest rates for the second time in three months by a quarter percentage point to 5.35%. The Hang Seng is trading -0.73% at 24,704.55 points. China's Shanghai Composite closed at 3,264.67 points -2.15%.

The Nikkei retreated moderately easing early gains. The index retreated from fresh 15-year highs set on Monday on a stronger Japanese yen, rebounding from a three-week low against the U.S. dollar and profit taking after the recent rally. The Nikkei closed -0.06% with a final quote of 18,815.16 points. Year on year the Japanese Monetary Base for February had a reading of +36.7% compared to +37.4% a year ago. Labor Cash Earnings rose by +1.3%, above expectations of an increase of +0.6% in January. The previous reading was revised down from +1.6% to +1.3%.