Global indices lower as higher Treasury yields weighed on growth stocks

Beijing: Shares opened lower in Europe on Tuesday after a day of declines in most Asian markets. Germany’s DAX fell 0.4 per cent to 15,765.55 and the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.8 per cent to 7,224.88. Britain’s FTSE-100 edged 0.1 per cent lower to 7,442.85.

The future for the S&P 500 was down 0.3 per cent, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2 per cent. In Asian trading, Hong Kong's benchmark fell 2.1 per cent, to 18,456.91, as investors sold real estate shares to lock in gains fuelled by recent government efforts to support the ailing property industry. China Vanke lost 1.1 per cent, while Country Garden Holdings gave up 1 per cent. Hong Kong-based Sun Hung Kai Properties shed 2 per cent. Chinese services data came in weaker than expected, dulling hopes for a rebound in China's lackluster growth.

Meanwhile, a survey showed business activity in China’s services sector increased at the slowest pace in eight months. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.7 per cent to 3,154.37. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 per cent to 33,036.76 and India’s Sensex rose 0.1 per cent to 65,707.99. In Seoul, the Kospi lost 0.1 per cent to 2,580.79. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1 per cent to 7,314.30 after the central bank, as expected, kept its key interest rate at 4.1 per cent.

It was the third straight monthly meeting where rates were unchanged in recognition that inflation has abated somewhat. Taiwan's benchmark was little changed and shares in Southeast Asia declined.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent, coming off its first monthly loss since February, as U.S. employment figures suggested the jobs market may be cooling. That fuelled hopes that the Federal Reserve might moderate interest rate increases to tamp down inflation. The Labour Department reported on Friday that employers added a solid 187,000 jobs in August, an increase from July's revised gain of 157,000. Hiring moderated: From June through August, the economy added 449,000 jobs, the lowest three-month total in three years. The report also showed the unemployment rate rose to 3.8 per cent from 3.5 per cent. That's the highest level since February 2022, though still low by historical standards.

Strong hiring and consumer spending have helped stave off a recession that analysts expected at some point in 2023. But they also make the central bank's task of taming inflation more difficult by fuelling wage and price increases. Market fears that the Fed might have to keep interest rates higher for longer — following reports showing the U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient — led the market to pull back in August. In other trading Tuesday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 32 cents to $85.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It jumped $1.92 to $85.55 a barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, sank 74 cents to $88.26 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S dollar rose to 147.00 Japanese yen from 146.48 yen late Monday. The euro slipped to $1.0752 from $1.0796.