BEIJING (AP) — Most Asian stock markets fell while Europe opened higher Tuesday as anxiety increased that U.S. interest rate hikes to fight inflation might stall economic growth.
London, Frankfurt and Shanghai rose. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices advanced.
Wall Street futures were higher after the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 3.2% on Monday to its lowest level in more than a year.
The Federal Reserve is trying to cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high, but investors worry that might trigger a U.S. downturn. That adds to pressure from Russia’s war on Ukraine and a Chinese slowdown.
Traders are pricing in the “impending deterioration of economic conditions,” said Yeap Jun Rong of IG in a report.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.6% to 7,260.98 and Frankfurt’s DAX added 1.5% to 13,580.60. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 1% to 6,147.78.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was up 0.8% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.6% higher.
On Monday, the S&P 500 ended down 16.8% from its Jan. 3 record.
The Dow fell 2% while the Nasdaq composite slid 4.3%. Energy stocks fell. Marathon Oil and APA Corp. each sank more than 14%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.6% to 26,167.10 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.8% to 19,633.69.
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.1% to 3,035.84 after the Chinese government told local authorities to help small businesses pay rent and other expenses in a new effort to boost anemic economic growth.
The Kospi in Seoul shed 0.6% to 2,596.56 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 declined 1% to 7,051.20.
India’s Sensex advanced 0.3% to 54,623.12. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta retreated while Bangkok gained.
U.S. stocks have declined as the Fed turns away from a strategy of pumping money into the financial system, which boosted prices.
The U.S. central bank has raised its key rate from close to zero, where it sat for much of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, it indicated it will double the size of future increases from its usual margin.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 66 cents to $103.75 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had plunged $6.68 to $103.09 on Monday. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, added 54 cents to $106.48 per barrel in London. It fell $6.45 the previous session to $105.94.
The dollar declined to 103.23 yen from Monday’s 130.32 yen. The euro edged lower to $1.0560 from $1.0566.
