LDN - Business

Global stocks are mixed following a quiet day on Wall Street

[October 23, 2024] By ZIMO ZHONG

HONG KONG (AP) — World stocks were mixed on Wednesday under pressure from a rising U.S. dollar and uncertainties over the U.S. election.

European markets opened mostly lower, with Germany’s DAX dropping less than 0.1% at 19,414.73. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.3% to 7,511.72. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 8,312.97. The future for the S&P 500 was down 0.1% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 0.3%.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% to close at 38,104.86 as the dollar rose against the Japanese yen.

Tokyo Metro Co.’s stock surged 45% during its trading debut on early Wednesday. The company raised 348.6 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in its initial public offering, making it Japan’s largest IPO since SoftBank Corp. went public in 2018.

Chinese markets rose for a second day after the central bank cut its one-year and five-year Loan Prime Rates on Monday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3% to 20,760.15, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.5% to 3,302.80.

State media have reported that a state-backed think tank has proposed issuing 2 trillion yuan ($281 billion) in special government bonds to create a market stabilization fund aiming to further ease the hidden debt pressures and inject confidence into Chinese markets.

“Yet, despite the bold proposal, there’s a sense that Beijing remains in reactionary mode, playing catch-up rather than getting ahead of the game,” Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a commentary.

Elsewhere, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,216.00. South Korea’s Kospi was 1.1% higher at 2,599.62.

Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.9%, while the Sensex in India gained 0.2%.

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Currency traders work at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1% and the Dow slipped less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.

Stocks have slowed their record-breaking momentum this week under increasing pressure from rising Treasury yields.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.20%, where it was late Monday. That’s well above the 4.08% level it was at just on Friday. Higher yields for Treasurys can make investors less willing to pay high prices for stocks, which critics say already look too expensive.

Treasury yields have been climbing following a raft of reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected. That’s good news for Wall Street, because it bolsters hopes that the economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without the painful recession that many had worried was inevitable.

Traders are now largely expecting the Fed to cut its main interest rate by half a percentage point more through the end of the year, according to data from CME Group. A month ago, some of those same traders were betting on the federal funds rate ending the year as much as half a percentage point lower than that.

In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 76 cents to $70.98 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 76 cents to $75.28 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 152.77 Japanese yen from 151.08 yen. The euro fell to $1.0786 from $1.0800.

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