Stocks mixed as markets take a breather after China’s economic stimulus announcement

• S&P 500 Futures: 5,782.25 ⬇️ down 0.17%
• S&P 500: 5,732.93 ⬆️ up 0.25%
• Nasdaq Composite: 18,074.52 ⬆️ up 0.56%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,208.22 ⬆️ 0.20% 
• FTSE 100: 8,289.15 ⬆️ up 0.08%
• Nikkei 225: 37,870.26 ⬇️ down 0.19%
• SSE Composite Index 2,896.31 ⬆️ up 1.16%
• Bitcoin: $63,837.20 ⬇️ down 0.66%

China: Stimulus momentum continues—but fades

The rally in Chinese stocks sparked by yesterday’s announcement from China’s central bank of a wide-ranging stimulus package faded as investors began to doubt that the measures would be sufficient to revive the world’s second-largest economy. The Shanghai index pulled out a 1.16% gain Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.68%

Japan: China reality sets in

The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.19%, reflecting the fading optimism over Beijing’s stimulus package.

Europe: Attention turns to SAP, Commerzbank

European stocks slid on Wednesday morning as investors turned their attention to UniCredit’s coy pursuit of a merger with Germany’s Commerzbank—and German politicians’ claims that the takeover of the country’s second-largest lender would be a bad thing. German software giant SAP also suffered, dropping 3.5% on revelations that the U.S. is investigating it over price fixing. The STOXX Europe 600 was off 0.13% in early trading.

The Dow and S&P 500 drift to new highs

On Tuesday, the Dow added 0.2% and the S&P 500 added 0.25% to set (yet more) all-time highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.56%, juiced by a 4% jump in Nvidia shares as investors decided that recent drops may have been a bit overdone.

U.S. futures down a touch

All three U.S. indexes slid slightly in pre-market trading Wednesday, as the sugar-high of China stimulus wore off and attention turned to crude prices (will they rise because of the Middle East conflict?) as well as upcoming U.S. economic data on jobless claims, inflation and new home sales.