- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ |
European, US stocks held back by economic gloom
European and US stocks made modest gains on Wednesday on news that major economies contracted in November and as traders looked ahead to Federal Reserve committee minutes.
Paris and London closed in positive territory and Wall Street gained around 0.2 percent in early deals, while Frankfurt ended flat.
The eurozone's composite purchasing managers index (PMI), a key economic indicator, improved from 47.3 in October to 47.8 in November, S&P Global said.
But activity languished under 50 -- signifying the fifth consecutive month of economic contraction as inflation spikes and dampening the outlook for the fourth quarter.
The United States' composite PMI hit a three-month low of 46.3 in November, down from the October figure of 48.2, with services business activity and manufacturing output data also falling.
Traders were expecting the results of a meeting of the influential Federal Open Market Committee in the United States.
"It's been a fairly lacklustre session as investors weigh up the release of tonight's FOMC minutes against a backdrop of a weakening economic outlook," noted Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Market UK.
"Stock markets have remained supported as optimism over a less hawkish Fed is outweighing growth concerns. But I can't imagine investors will continue to take excessive risk heading into a potential recession," said City Index analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
- 'Recession is inevitable' -
Britain's composite PMI was fractionally higher, from 48.2 to 48.3 in November, but that marked the fourth straight contraction.
The news comes after the UK government recently confirmed that the nation's economy was in recession, with inflation sitting at a 41-year high.
"Both data suggest that recession is inevitable in both eurozone and UK economies, with the UK likely to be designated officially before the eurozone due to the weaker Q3 data," Monex Europe analyst Maria Marcos told AFP.
Oil prices slid on disappointing US data and fears of more painful Covid lockdowns in China that could ravage the Asian giant's energy demand.
The main American oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, briefly sank by more than five percent on Wednesday on China concerns and the underwhelming US data.
Reports that the European Union is considering a price cap on Russian crude and pessimistic global growth forecasts by the OECD are also holding back prices, according to analysts.
"With China also grappling with record numbers of Covid cases the macro-outlook has continued to deteriorate for oil this week, with prices on course to decline for the third week in a row," said Hewson.
The dollar sank more than one percent against the British pound and weakened against other rival currencies as investors mulled mixed earnings and economic data.
"The US dollar fell sharply again today as concerns intensified that the economy is heading for a recession after a poor set of PMI numbers came out from the services and manufacturing sectors," said Razaqzada.
"An economic slowdown is expected to weigh on inflation, reducing the need for the Fed to maintain an aggressive tightening stance."
- Key figures around 1630 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,465.24 points (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 6,679.09 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT at 14,427.59 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,946.44
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 34,175.97
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 17,523.81 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,096.91 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0367 from $1.0304 on Tuesday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 139.69 yen from 141.23 yen
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2071 from $1.1886
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.89 pence from 86.69 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.5 percent at $77.30 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 3.8 percent at $84.34 per barrel
H.Meyer--CPN