Stocks decouple, sell-off; Recession odds climb
President Emmanuel Macron's shock announcement of a snap election sparked a rout that wiped off about $258 billion from the market capitalisation of French firms last week
The euro slid 0.29% to $1.0857, just off from a nine-month high of $1.09295 it touched on Monday
World shares advanced Tuesday after China announced it would relax more of its pandemic restrictions despite widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 that are straining its medical systems and disrupting business. China's National Health Commission said Monday that passengers arriving from abroad will no longer have to observe a quarantine, starting Jan. 8. They will still need a negative virus test within 48 hours of their departure and to wear masks on their flights. But it was the latest step toward dropping once-strict virus-control measures that have severely limited travel to and from the world's No. 2 economy. With economic activity floundering, and multinationals questioning the viability of China as a sourcing location, policymakers have as so many times in the past adopted a very business-like approach," Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. Companies welcomed the move as an important step toward reviving slumping business activity. Germany's DAX gained 0
World stocks eased on Wednesday and bonds remained supported after a chorus of Wall Street bankers warned about a likely recession ahead
World stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday after Wall Street pulled back as surprisingly strong economic reports highlighted the challenges the Federal Reserve faces in battling inflation. Germany's DAX lost 0.2% to 14,421.84 and the CAC 40 in Paris also was down 0.2%, at 6,682.03. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 6,679.98. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials were 0.1% lower. Highlighting worries over recession, Fitch Ratings revised its forecasts for world economic growth downward on Tuesday to reflect the Fed's and other central banks' interest rate hikes. The ratings agency's Global Economic Outlook report estimated global growth at 1.4% in 2023, revised down from 1.7% in its September forecast. It put U.S. growth in 2023 at 0.2%, down from 0.5%, as the pace of monetary policy tightening increases. China's growth forecast was cut to a 4.1% annual pace from 4.5%. Markets have been lifted by expectations China will press ahead with easing its stringent pandemic ...
US stock futures, which provide an indication of how Wall Street will open, also lost some of their strength and were mixed
World stocks were a touch softer on Wednesday with sentiment caught between upbeat earnings and further signs that strong inflation will keep major central banks firmly in rate-increasing mode
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback against six major rivals, barely budged from around 113.25 ahead of the CPI data
There was a modest respite for Britain's battered bond market after the Bank of England said it would start purchasing inflation-linked debt
There was a modest respite for Britain's battered bond market after the Bank of England said it would start purchasing inflation-linked debt
Markets remain nervous, however, after U.S. Federal Reserve officials on Monday said their priority remained controlling domestic inflation
Global stocks fell for a third day Friday after more rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to control persistent inflation spurred fears of a possible global recession. London and Frankfurt opened lower. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Oil prices fell by more than $1 per barrel. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Wall Street futures were lower following rate hikes Thursday by central banks in Britain, Switzerland, Turkey and the Philippines. The Fed hiked its key rate on Wednesday for a fifth time this year and indicated more rises were on the way. Global equities are struggling as the world anticipates surging rates will trigger a much sooner and possibly severe global recession, Edward Moya of Oanda said in a report. In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.6% to 7,127.70 and the DAX in Frankfurt shed 0.3% to 12,490.55. The CAC 40 in Paris was 0.2% lower at 5,905.20. On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and Dow Jones
Fresh lockdowns in China are also fuelling concerns about global growth, while high energy costs as a result of the war in Ukraine are weighing on European markets
World stocks slumped as the growing risk of more aggressive interest rate hikes in the US and Europe inflicted fresh pain on bond markets and pushed the dollar to new 20-year highs
Global shares were mostly higher Thursday as investors welcomed encouraging economic data and quarterly earnings reports from big companies. European shares mostly headed higher in early trading. Benchmarks advanced in Asia as jitters eased over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. The gains followed a strong rally on Wall Street. France's CAC 40 added 0.5% in early trading to 6,501.54, while Germany's DAX gained 0.7% to 13,688.05. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,426.95. The future for the Dow industrials inched up less than 0.1% while that for the S&P 500 also was little changed, up by less than 0.1%. Analysts said geopolitical risks remained after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in defiance of Beijing, with China conducting military exercises near the self-ruled island that it claims as its own territory. Despite the easing in immediate concerns, investors will be looking out for any potential escalation in US-China tensions, with any economic sanctions from China likely .
As inflation surges across major markets and central bankers fight to raise rates without killing off growth, riskier markets like stocks have tended to react positively to any softening in sentiment
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of global stocks edged higher on Friday, poised for a sixth straight day of gains, while the dollar dipped against a basket of major currencies following soft data on U.S. business activity.
Netflix Inc may have calmed investors' worst fears with a second-quarter subscriber loss that was better than expected
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global equity markets and oil slipped and the safe-haven dollar rose after the latest red-hot U.S. inflation reading heightened investor fears about Federal Reserve interest rate hikes and a possible recession.