ABC News:
BEIJING — Global stock markets were mixed Monday ahead of a U.S. inflation update traders worry might lead to more interest rate hikes.
London opened higher and Shanghai advanced. Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined. Oil prices fell.
Traders hope Tuesday’s inflation data will show upward pressure on U.S. prices is easing, which might encourage the Federal Reserve to ease off efforts to cool business activity and hiring. They worry a strong reading after estimates of 2022 inflation were revised up last week would reinforce plans to keep rates high and possibly increase them.
A strong inflation figure “can move through risk assets like a wrecking ball,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.3% to 7,903.02. The DAX in Frankfurt sank 1.4% to 15,307.98 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.8% to 7,129.73.
On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 index rose 0.2%. The index turned in a weekly loss of 1.1%, its biggest since December.
The Dow gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq fell less than 0.1%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo sank 0.9% to 27,427.32 while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.6% to 3,279.94. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 0.4% to 21,099.65.
The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.6% to 2,453.89 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.2% to 7,417.80.
India’s Sensex opened down 0.5% to 60,386.40. New Zealand and Singapore retreated while Jakarta and Bangkok gained.
U.S. stocks have been rallying since last month on hopes the Fed might start cutting rates as early as late this year. That is despite warnings by Chair Jerome Powell that rates will stay elevated for an extended period until inflation pressures are extinguished.
Other central banks in Europe and Asia also have raised rates to cool inflation.
Wall Street raised its forecast of how high the Fed might raise rates after Powell said last week there is a “significant road ahead” to get inflation down to its 2% target. He warned against expecting inflation to “go away quickly and painlessly.”
The U.S. government revised December inflation to 0.1% over the previous month, up from the earlier estimate of a 0.1% decline. The November figure was raised to 0.2% over the previous month from 0.1%.
