TOKYO (AP) – European benchmarks were mixed yesterday after gains in most Asian markets despite weakness in technology shares, including Japan’s SoftBank.
Such worries are coming on top of concerns about inflation and what central banks might do to curb that trend. Higher interest rates tend to work as a minus for share prices.
Fighting in the Ukraine and attacks on Europe’s biggest nuclear plant are other factors hanging over markets.
Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling a nuclear power plant in Russia-occupied southeastern Ukraine, attacks that have fuelled international concerns.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has six nuclear reactors, and the fighting around it has raised the danger of a nuclear accident.
France’s CAC 40 inched up less than 2 points to 6,526.13, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.4 per cent to 13,632.20. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained less than 0.1 per cent to 7,489.68. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.2 per cent higher.
In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped nearly 0.9 per cent to finish at 27,999.96.
Japan’s technology investor SoftBank Group Corp dropped more than seven per cent. On Monday it reported a record quarterly loss of USD23 billion. A global nose-dive of technology-related issues, such as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, has weighed on its sprawling portfolio of investments.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1 per cent to 7,029.80. South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.4 per cent higher to 2,503.46.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng erased earlier gains, falling 0.2 per cent to 20,003.44, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.3 per cent to 3,247.43.
Of concern are the rising cases of COVID-19 in China, Japan and some other Asian nations, and their potential impact on supply chains that are a lifeline to some of the region’s biggest manufacturers.
Technology stocks were the biggest drag on Monday on Wall Street. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 4,140.06 and the Nasdaq shed 0.1 per cent to 12,644.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1 per cent higher, at 32,832.54. The Russell 2000 rose one per cent to 1,941.21.
It’s a busy week as investors weigh whether the United States (US) Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and quell inflation are working, or whether the central bank will continue aggressively raising interest rates. Investors worry the Fed could hit the brakes too hard and cause a recession.
The Fed is expected to hike short-term interest rates by another 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting.
