AP – World stocks were mixed yesterday following Wall Street’s mostly positive performance before key United States (US) inflation data that could influence the pace of market-boosting rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 per cent to 20,311.39, and the CAC 40 in Paris was flat at 7,424.49. In London, the FTSE rose 0.8 per cent to 8,263.60.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1 per cent higher.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1 per cent lower to 38,444.58.
The Kospi ended the day with a minor change at 2,496.81. South Korea’s unemployment rate reached 3.7 per cent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis, the highest since June 2021, amid political uncertainty, the government reported.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.3 per cent to 19,286.07 after media reported that US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming economic team is discussing gradually ramping up tariffs in different phases. The Shanghai Composite shed 0.4 per cent to 3,227.12.
Shares related to Xiaohongshu, the Chinese Instagram-style app, surged after it topped the Apple App Store chart in the US, as US TikTok users flock to the app amid the looming threat of a TikTok ban. Companies like Foshan Yowant Technology, a digital marketing firm, and Inly Media Co, an advertising company, both saw their shares rise by around 10 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2 per cent to 8,213.30.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1 per cent to 5,842.91 as three out of every four stocks in the index climbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5 per cent to 42,518.28, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2 per cent to 19,044.39.
Stocks got a boost from a report showing inflation at the US wholesale level wasn’t as high last month as economists expected. It’s an encouraging signal before a report coming later in the day, which will show how much inflation US consumers faced at gasoline pumps, grocery registers and auto lots in December.
Stubbornly high readings on inflation and a run of better-than-expected updates on the US economy have sent Wall Street into a weekslong rut, pulling it further from the dozens of all-time highs set last year. The fear is that all the strong data will convince the Fed to deliver less relief this year through lower interest rates.
The Fed has already hinted it’s likely to cut rates just two times in 2025, down from an earlier projection of four. Speculation is growing about whether the Fed may cut rates zero times this year.
