TOKYO (AP) – Global shares were mostly lower yesterday in muted trading, as investors kept an eye on inflation and awaited the outcome of a Communist Party congress in China.
France’s CAC dipped 1.6 per cent in early trading to 5,988.78. Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 per cent to 12,584.52.
Britain’s FTSE 100 shed one per cent to 6,871.64 as the Conservative Party was preparing to replace Liz Truss as prime minister within a week after she resigned on Thursday after a turbulent 45-day term, conceding that she could not deliver on her tax-cutting economic plans.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among several candidates expected to vie to take her place. Former Treasury chief Rishi Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt are others.
On Wall Street, the future for the Dow industrials lost 0.5 per cent while the S&P 500 future was down 0.7 per cent.
China’s ruling party congress is expected to wrap up today with an endorsement of leader Xi Jinping remaining in office indefinitely. The meeting, held every five years, sets the national agenda for the next five and can signal possible changes in policy direction. One change that looks unlikely is an end to severe “zero COVID” rules that appear set to continue disrupting life and business activity for months to come.
In other developments, Japan’s core consumer prices rose 3.0 per cent in September from a year earlier, according to government data released yesterday. That was the highest increase in eight years. It would also have been the highest in more than 30 years if the impact of introducing and raising the consumption tax was excluded.
The Bank of Japan has kept an ultra-low interest rate policy, while the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been raising rates to counter surging prices. Until recently, the Japanese central bank had devoted its efforts to fending off deflation, or the continued downward spiraling of prices.
