Global stocks rise after Wall St breaking 7-week long declines

Beijing: Global stocks and US futures rose Monday after Wall Street rebounded from a seven-week string of declines and China eased anti-virus curbs on business activity in Shanghai and Beijing. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Oil stayed above $110 per barrel.

The future for Wall Street's S&P 500 index was 0.9 per cent higher after the benchmark on Friday ended up 6.6 per cent for the week after surging inflation declined. U.S. markets are closed Monday for a holiday. "Markets rallied into the long weekend, providing a positive tone at the start of this week," ING economists said in a report. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.4 per cent to 7,613.78 and the DAX in Frankfurt advanced 0.7 per cent to 14,564.68.

The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.8 per cent to 6,565.13. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average future was up 0.7 per cent. On Friday, the S&P gained 2.5 per cent, propelled by gains for tech companies. Investors were relieved after Commerce Department data showed U.S. inflation, which has prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, decelerated to 6.3 per cent over a year earlier in April, its first decline in 17 months.

Markets are worried about whether the Fed can control inflation that is running at a four-decade high without tipping the biggest global economy into recession.

The U.S. market has been in a slump for the past two months over fears about interest rate hikes that might slow economic activity, and the impact of Russia's war on Ukraine and a Chinese economic slowdown. Crude oil prices are up nearly 60 per cent this year due to fears about disruptions in supplies from Russia, the second-biggest global exporter.