- Russia, China step up cybercriminal recruitment, warns Microsoft
- Restored 'Apollo Belvedere' marble back on show in the Vatican
- Boeing to raise up to $25 bn as strike weighs on finances
- Oil prices fall on easing Middle East fears
- Boeing announces intention to raise up to $25 bn
- Ferguson to leave Man Utd ambassador role as club cuts costs
- Oil prices tumble on easing Middle East fears
- Oil prices hit by easing Middle East fears, most Asian markets rise
- Hopes pinned on peace across Taiwan Strait after drills
- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
RBGPF | 1.67% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.62% | 25.135 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.52% | 24.82 | $ | |
AZN | -0.26% | 77.9 | $ | |
RELX | 1.8% | 48.25 | $ | |
NGG | 0.4% | 67.16 | $ | |
RIO | -1.48% | 66.715 | $ | |
GSK | -0.25% | 39.034 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.28% | 7.05 | $ | |
BCC | 0.95% | 144.35 | $ | |
SCS | 0.92% | 13.1 | $ | |
JRI | -0.47% | 13.025 | $ | |
BCE | 2.79% | 33.495 | $ | |
BP | -3.86% | 30.8 | $ | |
BTI | -0.04% | 35.435 | $ | |
VOD | -0.26% | 9.655 | $ |
Stocks, dollar retreat before Fed rate decision
Major stock markets mostly retreated Wednesday as a China-induced rally gave way to cautious trading ahead of a Federal Reserve policy decision, with fresh data reviving the possibility of more US rate hikes before the end of the year.
The dollar and oil prices also declined.
Equities had been boosted Tuesday by Beijing's pledges of stimulus, particularly the property sector, after a string of readings showed the post-Covid recovery was going off the rails in China.
Focus has returned to central banks' battle to tame inflation, with the Fed tipped to deliver another increase in borrowing costs on Wednesday.
While the result of the meeting is largely accepted, debate is now centred on whether it will announce another hike later in the year.
There had been hopes that this month would see the end of the tightening cycle but data Tuesday showing a key gauge of US consumer sentiment at a two-year high has stoked talk of more to come.
Post-meeting comments by bank chief Jerome Powell will be closely followed for an idea about officials' plans for the rest of the year.
"While Powell will try and make the case for further rate hikes, his time would be better spent in making the case for rates remaining higher for longer, and projecting when the (Fed) expected the two-percent (inflation) target to be met," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
After the Fed, attention turns to the European Central Bank, which announces its own rate decision Thursday, followed by the Bank of Japan on Friday.
The Paris stock market fared worse than London and Frankfurt on Wednesday, shedding nearly two percent in afternoon deals.
It was dragged down by luxury group LVMH, whose shares dropped nearly five percent.
"LVMH reported first half results after the European close (Tuesday), and highlighted a weakening trend in US sales," noted Steve Clayton, head of equity funds at Hargreaves Lansdown.
On the upside, shares in Rolls-Royce, the British maker of aircraft engines and other power systems, soared more than 21 percent Wednesday as a turnaround plan under new leadership delivered far better-than-expected results.
- Key figures around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,648.23 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 16,096.04
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.8 percent at 7,282.72
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.4 percent at 4,330.05
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 32,668.34 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 19,365.14 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,223.03 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 35,438.07 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1085 from $1.1058 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2921 from $1.2902
Euro/pound: UP at 85.80 pence from 85.68 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 140.37 yen from 140.95 yen
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $78.83 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $82.86 per barrel
M.Davis--CPN