BANGKOK (AP) – Shares were mostly lower in Europe and Asia yesterday ahead of the release of key United States (US) consumer inflation data, while US futures were little changed.
The latest report on the US consumer price index was due later in the day. Economists expect it to show inflation slowed a touch to 8.2 per cent in May from 8.3 per cent a month earlier.
Investors are hoping for signs inflation may have already peaked,
Germany’s DAX lost 1.6 per cent to 13,971.00 while the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 1.5 per cent to 6,264.25. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 1.2 per cent to 7,390.48. The future for the S&P 500 was down less than 0.1 per cent and that for the Dow industrials edged 0.1 per cent lower.
In Asian trading, markets in mainland China were lifted by news that inflation remained subdued at 2.1 per cent in May.
The Shanghai Composite index added 1.4 per cent to 3,284.83. With price increases below the government’s three per cent target, Chinese leaders have more leeway to adjust policies to counter a prolonged economic slowdown worsened by widespread restrictions imposed to counter outbreaks of coronavirus.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.5 per cent to 27,824.29 while the Kospi in Seoul shed 1.1 per cent to 2,595.87. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.3 per cent to 6,932.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.3 per cent, shedding early gains, to 21,806.18.
In another market-related move, the China Security Regulatory Commission issued a statement saying it has not yet evaluated and researched reviving a plan by fintech company Ant’s Group’s to conduct an initial public offering. That countered a report saying approval of the IPO was pending, but the commission said it did support share listings of “qualified platform companies” on domestic and overseas markets.
The government’s quashing of Ant’s earlier effort to launch an IPO came amid a broad crackdown on e-commerce giant Alibaba and other big technology companies that has buffeted markets, especially in Hong Kong where many such companies are traded.
