BEIJING (AP) – Global stock markets were mostly higher on Tuesday after Australia’s central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged and Wall Street hit a 15-month high.
London, Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo declined. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are extending cuts to the amount of oil they pump to try to prop up prices.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.1 per cent on Monday ahead an update on United States (US) employment, a factor watched by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) in deciding on possible additional interest rate hikes.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained less than 0.1 per cent to 7,530.05. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.1 per cent to 7,935.38 and the DAX in Frankfurt added 0.1 per cent to 16,098.39.
US markets were closed yesterday for the Independence Day holiday.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained less than 0.1 per cent to 3,245.34 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost one per cent to 33,422.52. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.4 per cent to 19,393.33.
Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.5 per cent to 7,279.00 after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark lending rate at 4.1 per cent in the day’s biggest market data point.
Australia’s inflation is past its peak but “still too high and will remain so for some time”, said RBA Governor Philip Lowe in a statement.
He warned “further tightening of monetary policy may be required”.
The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.4 per cent to 2,593.31 while India’s Sensex advanced 0.6 per cent to 65.618.63.
New Zealand and Bangkok advanced while Singapore and Jakarta declined.
On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite added 0.2
per cent.
The S&P 500 is at its highest level since April 2022. The benchmark has climbed in six of the past seven weeks for a 16 per cent gain so far this year.
Traders expect at least a brief recession following US and European rate hikes to cool inflation but have been encouraged by signs US hiring is strong.
US manufacturing contracted in June for an eighth month, according to a monthly survey released on Monday by the Institute for Supply Management. The government report last Friday on hiring and wages is one of the last big data points before the Fed’s meeting next month on interest rate policy.
Tesla Inc was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 upward after the market heavyweight climbed 6.9 per cent. The company said spring deliveries surged by 83 per cent from a year earlier. That was more than analysts expected. Tesla reports earnings on July 19.
Rivian Automotive, another electric-vehicle company, jumped 17.4 per cent after spring deliveries topped forecasts.
Apple Inc slipped 0.8 per cent after becoming the first US stock last Friday to finish a trading day with a total value of more than USD3 trillion.
The Fed has hinted it may be nearing the end of rate hikes, which would mean less pressure on economic activity. Much of Wall Street expects a rate hike July 26.
In energy markets, benchmark US crude gained 60 cents to USD70.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 85 cents on Monday to USD69.79.
Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced 59 cents to USD75.24 per barrel in London. It retreated 76 cents the previous session to USD74.65.
The dollar declined to JPY144.48 from Monday’s JPY144.72. The euro fell to USD1.0899 from USD1.0913.
