Global Stocks: Wall Street slightly down, Nikkei at 15-year high, Chinese stocks extend rally

U.S. stocks ended slightly down on Tuesday reversing early gains. The S&P 500 closed -0.21% with a final quote of 2,076.33 points. The DOW JONES index declined by -0.03%, closing at 17,875.42 points. Investors worry about the impact of the strong dollar on corporate earnings but sentiment is supported by the fact that a rate hike by the FED could be delayed. Today at 13:30 GMT FOMC Member Dudley speaks and at 18:00 the FOMC minutes of the last policy meeting will be published.

Chinese stocks extended gains amid speculations on further economic stimulus by the PBoC. The economic slowdown in China, the world's second largest economy, is already seen bottoming and China has lots of options left in order to spur the economy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is trading +2.49% at 25,904.25 points. China's Shanghai Composite is currently trading at 3,990.28 points +0.73%. In today's session the index surpassed the 4,000 points mark for the first time since 2008, doubling since January 2014.

The Nikkei rose to a 15-year high on Wednesday. The index rose +0.76% to 19,789.81 points. The Bank of Japan left the key interest rate unchanged at 0.10% after an 8 to 1 vote and kept the bank's Monetary Base Target unchanged at 275 billion. One member voted for a lower target but was voted down. The current Eco Watchers Survey for March increased above estimates to 52.2, beating forecasts of an increase to 50.9 from a previous reading of 50.1. The Eco Watchers Outlook rose from 53.2. to 53.4. At 06:30 GMT the Bo J will hold a press conference.