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- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
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- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong reverses after surge
- Tunisia readies for vote as incumbent Saied eyes victory
- High childcare costs in US weigh on women's employment
- US voters seek help with crushing childcare costs
- Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon to land
- Supercharged storms: how climate change amplifies cyclones
- Biden official urges talks as US port strike enters second day
- Huge protests in Argentina over public university cuts
- Rally in oil prices loses steam on mixed day for global stocks
- South America treated to rare 'ring of fire' eclipse
- Biden official says port strike deal not as far as parties think
- Mexico's new president offers apology for 1968 student massacre
- Historic funding round values OpenAI at $157 billion
- Mixed US car sales in Q3 as industry hopes for post-election bounce
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- Facing backlash, EU moves to delay deforestation rules
- US private sector adds more jobs than expected in September: ADP
- Boys out of critical condition after Zurich stabbings
- Spain logs record summer tourism as inflow draws protests
- Hedi Slimane quits as Celine's artistic director
- Oil prices extend rally on Iran attack
- Spain welcomed record number of tourists this summer
- France says coming tax hikes on the wealthy to be 'temporary'
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- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong soars again
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RBGPF | 100% | 59.99 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.04% | 24.93 | $ | |
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BCE | -1.13% | 34.44 | $ | |
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RIO | -0.48% | 70.82 | $ | |
GSK | -2.15% | 39.45 | $ | |
RELX | -0.11% | 47.29 | $ | |
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VOD | -2.16% | 9.74 | $ | |
BTI | -1.33% | 35.97 | $ | |
BP | 0.86% | 32.37 | $ | |
AZN | 1.14% | 79.58 | $ |
Stocks split on China, US consumer confidence
European and Asian stocks climbed Tuesday and oil prices rallied further as China slashed the quarantine time for visitors, fuelling hopes of recovery for the world's second largest economy.
But US equities were hit by another disappointing economic sentiment indicator, reviving investor concerns about the impact of a likely recession.
The news from China came as Beijing and Shanghai appeared to have contained a Covid outbreak that had forced officials to impose lockdowns that compounded global supply chain snarls, further pushing up inflation.
Authorities said inbound travellers would have to quarantine for only 10 days instead of three weeks.
The news boosted share prices, already striving to rebound from recent sharp losses triggered by fears of a global recession.
"The Covid crisis appears to be rapidly retreating in China," noted Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
"The prospects of rapid recovery for the world's second largest economy is helping lift miners, as metals prices rise in expectation of a surge in demand in the commodity-hungry economy."
Asian markets closed higher, with both Hong Kong and Shanghai rising 0.9 percent.
At the same time, G7 leaders meeting in Germany condemned China's "non-transparent and market-distorting" international trade practices in an end-of-summit statement that hit out directly at Beijing for the first time.
Traders also digested comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, who said the ECB would go "as far as necessary" to fight inflation that is set to remain "undesirably high".
Paris rose 0.6 percent and Frankfurt added 0.4 percent. London climbed 0.9 percent.
Global equity markets have been recovering ground as investors believe central banks could decide to raise interest rates by more modest amounts than previously thought.
The US Federal Reserve and its peers are hiking borrowing costs in an attempt to cool inflation, which has soared around the world to the highest levels in decades.
Such action has increased the prospect of a global recession, causing economists to think that future rate hikes could be less steep than in recent months.
But early gains on Wall Street evaporated following a new report showing a drop in US consumer confidence.
The Conference Board's monthly consumer confidence index fell to 98.7 from 103.2, its lowest level since February 2021, as US consumer prices rise at their fastest pace in more than four decades.
"It looks like investors are potentially underestimating the big macro risks facing them by bidding up equity prices over the last few days," City Index analyst Fawad Razaqzada told AFP.
"It is far too early to be optimistic that this latest recovery will hold."
The Dow was down 0.4 percent in late morning trade, while the S&P 500 slid 0.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.4 percent.
- Oil jumps as G7 targets Russia -
Oil prices, a major driver of the soaring inflation, rose on fears of further supply tightening, in addition to prospects for higher Chinese demand.
This comes after G7 leaders agreed to work on a price cap for Russian oil, a US official said Tuesday, as part of efforts to cut the Kremlin's revenues.
International sanctions placed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine are taking their toll.
Moody's ratings agency has confirmed that Russia defaulted on its foreign debt for the first time in a century, after bond holders did not receive $100 million in interest payments.
- Key figures at around 1530 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 31,324.65 points
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,506.13
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.9 percent at 7,323.41 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.4 percent at 13,231.82 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 6,086.02 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 27,049.47 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 22,418.97 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,409.21 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.0 percent at $113.22 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $111.11 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0527 from $1.0583 Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2188 from $1.2268
Euro/pound: UP at 86.35 pence from 86.24 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 136.26 yen from 135.48 yen
burs-rl/kjm
P.Kolisnyk--CPN