As traders prepare for a potential strong interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve to tame soaring inflation, major global stock indexes and Wall Street futures have advanced.
(AP) BEIJING — Major stock markets around the world and Wall Street futures rose on Wednesday as investors braced themselves for a potential swift interest rate increase by the Federal Reserve to tame soaring inflation.
Frankfurt and London have higher openings. Shanghai fell while Tokyo and Sydney increased. Oil costs increased.
The Federal Reserve is anticipated to announce a hike in its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday that could be up to three-quarters of a percentage point more than usual. Investors are concerned that the Fed’s and other central bank’s aggressive actions to curb inflation, which is at multi-decade highs, could stall global economic expansion.
According to Thomas Costerg of Pictet Wealth Management, “the major risk at this stage is an inflation “overkill” with too fast monetary tightening, unnecessarily driving up the unemployment rate.” Most economic indicators and decreased commodity prices, according to Costerg, already lead to slower inflation in the future.
The FTSE 100 in London increased 0.5% in early trading to reach 7,345.81. The CAC 40 in Paris increased by 0.3% to 6,230.48 and the DAX in Frankfurt increased by 0.3% to 13,136.88.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s future increased by 0.4% while the benchmark S&P 500 index on Wall Street rose by 0.9%.
Tuesday’s S&P 500 dropped 1.2% after Walmart issued a warning that the country’s consumer spending would be harmed by inflation, which has reached a four-decade high of 9.1%.
The Nasdaq closed 1.9% lower, while the Dow fell 0.7%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo increased 0.2% to 27,715.75, while the Shanghai Composite Index decreased less than 0.1% to 3,275.76. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 20,620.10.
After data revealed that Australian inflation grew to 6.1% in the most recent quarter from 5.1%, while the gain was less than anticipated, Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 increased 0.2% to 6,823.20.
India’s Sensex increased 0.8% to 55,715.95 while the Kospi in Seoul increased by 0.1% to 2,415.53. New Zealand markets fell while they rose in Southeast Asia.
Following Walmart’s profit warning on Tuesday, several big-name retailers also saw losses on Wall Street. Target declined by 3.6%, Macy’s dropped by 7.2%, and Kohl’s plummeted by 9.1%.
Tech stock prices dropped. Microsoft dropped 2.7%, Amazon dropped 5.2%, while Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, sank 4.5%.
After its second-quarter profit dropped 40% from a year ago, General Motors’ stock dropped 3.4%. Due to a lack of processor chips and other components, the company was unable to deliver 95,000 vehicles during the quarter, which resulted in a 15% decline in U.S. sales.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange’s computerized trading platform, benchmark U.S. crude increased by $1.17 to reach $96.15 per barrel in the energy sector. On Tuesday, the contract dropped from $1.72 to $94.98. The benchmark price for international petroleum, Brent crude, increased by 94 cents to $100.40 per barrel in London.
The dollar increased from 136.00 yen on Tuesday to 136,90 yen today. The euro increased from $1.0120 to $1.0138.
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