Global Stock markets: Shares mixed after Big Tech rally on Wall Street
The Federal Reserve is weighing whether to keep raising interest rates steady in its effort to get inflation back to two per cent
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Tokyo: Global shares were mixed Tuesday following a Big Tech rally on Wall Street, as investors awaited an update on US consumer prices set for later in the week.
France's CAC 40 slid 0.1 per cent in early trading to 7,270.28, while Germany's DAX shed 0.4 per cent to 15,737.20. But Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent to 7,528.80. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2 per cent and that for the S&P 500 was off 0.3 per cent. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.0 per cent to finish at 32,776.37. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.2 per cent to 7,206.90. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.8 per cent to 2,536.58. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.4 per cent to 18,025.89, while the Shanghai Composite fell nearly 0.2 per cent to 3,137.06.
The Federal Reserve is weighing whether to keep raising interest rates steady in its effort to get inflation back to two per cent. On Wednesday, the US government will offer the latest monthly update on prices consumers are paying across the economy, and the forecast is they were 3.6 per cent higher in August than a year earlier.
“Upcoming US data will be crucial leading up to the Federal Reserve's decision next week,” Anderson Alves of ActivTrades said in a commentary. The Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades, and it has said it will make upcoming moves based on how inflation and other parts of the economy perform. Inflation has come down from last year's peak above nine per cent, but economists warn the last bit of improvement to get to the Fed's target could be the most difficult to achieve.
A separate report on Thursday will also show how much US households spent at retailers last month. Strong spending there has helped the economy avoid a long-predicted recession. But it also could encourage companies to keep trying to raise prices, pushing upward on inflation. Most traders expect the Federal Reserve to leave rates where they are at its meeting next week, according to data from CME Group. But many are bracing for another possible hike by the end of this year, while paring expectations for cuts to rates next year.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7 per cent and the Dow industrials 0.3 per cent. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1 per cent. In other trading Tuesday, benchmark US crude gained 54 cents to $87.83 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 42 cents to $91.06 a barrel. The US dollar edged up to 146.76 Japanese yen from 146.55 yen. The euro cost $1.0719, down from $1.0756.
