- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
- New blow for UK's Starmer as growth data disappoints
- China's top banks to tweak mortgage rates to boost housing market
Stocks rally on Shanghai reopening hopes
Hong Kong led a rally across stock markets Tuesday on hopes that China's economic engine Shanghai will ease its weeks-long lockdown and gradually reopen businesses.
In foreign exchange, the pound leapt against the dollar as UK jobs data cemented expectations of more interest rate rises from the Bank of England despite growing fears of recession.
"Hopes that the Shanghai lockdowns will ease, along with the ensuing supply chain disruptions, have been enough to lift" equities, said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley.
Much of the city of 25 million has been under lockdown since April as Beijing attempts to stamp out an Omicron-fuelled virus surge under its strict zero-Covid policy.
Tuesday's rally coincides with the third day in a row that Shanghai has recorded no Covid-19 cases outside of its quarantine facilities.
The impact of Beijing's zero-Covid strategy on the world's second-largest economy was revealed Monday when official data showed that retail sales and industrial production in April on-year had slumped to their lowest levels in more than two years.
World markets have also been roiled by surging inflation and Russia's war in Ukraine -- leaving investors jittery.
The British pound on Tuesday rallied more than one percent versus the dollar as traders bet that soaring UK inflation, lifted in part by wage rises, will see more monetary policy tightening by the Bank of England.
There are rising concerns that ongoing rapid interest rate rises by the BoE and other central banks including the Federal Reserve to curb decades-high inflation will push the economy into a downturn.
"Markets remain in fight or flight mode while rolling the dice on recession odds," said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
On the corporate front Tuesday, India's insurance giant LIC slumped on its market debut following the country's biggest-ever initial public offering, closing nearly eight percent below the IPO price.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government raised $2.7 billion by selling 3.5 percent of Life Insurance Corporation of India as his administration seeks to sell off state assets to bolster tattered public finances.
But it was forced to cut back the offer from a planned five percent after markets turned volatile following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's Covid lockdowns.
Elsewhere, Elon Musk said his planned purchase of Twitter would not go ahead unless he was assured that fewer than five percent of accounts on the platform were fake.
The Tesla owner has bid $44 billion for the social media platform.
- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.9 percent at 7,533.42 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.5 percent at 14,175.62
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.3 percent at 6,432.73
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.6 percent at 3,743.23
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 3.3 percent at 20,602.52 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,093.70 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 26,659.75 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 32,223.42 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.7 percent at $114.98 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $115 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0519 from $1.0436 at 2030 GMT Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2465 from $1.2323
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.41 pence from 84.67 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 129.35 yen from 129.08 yen
U.Ndiaye--CPN