Stock markets mainly dropped on Friday, with investors focused firmly on the
outlook for interest rate hikes as central banks battle to bring down sky-high
inflation.
اضافة اعلان
The dollar rose against main rivals, while oil prices slid as traders
assessed the risk of a possible global recession.
European gas prices pushed higher after a record-close Thursday as the
Ukraine war impacts supplies.
Elsewhere, bitcoin slumped more than eight percent as investors shunned
risky assets.
A two-month equity markets rally from June lows appears to have run out of
steam.
"Stocks will most likely struggle for direction for the rest of the
summer as Wall Street is still uncertain with how aggressive the Fed will be in
September," said OANDA trading platform analyst Edward Moya.
Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com, said the recent rally has been
driven by the market "embracing a belief that the Fed won't have to get
overly restrictive with its monetary policy before ultimately shifting to an
easing stance."
The gains have come in the face of a number of problems that have caused
unease on trading floors, including China-US tensions, the Ukraine war, supply
chain snarls and extreme weather across much of the northern hemisphere.
The US Federal Reserve and other central banks have begun hiking interest
rates to get a grip on soaring inflation, but those increases had been largely
priced into the stock market in the first half of the year when equities
slumped.
Thus the darkening clouds on the economic horizon mean that central banks
may not need to raise rates as sharply as many investors believed, triggering
the rebound in stocks.
A statement by policymakers and comments from Fed boss Jerome Powell after
last month's board meeting suggested they could be considering slowing the pace
of rate hikes as the economy slows.
That was followed by a drop in inflation, which lifted markets.
But there has been downward pressure after minutes from the Fed's most
recent meeting showed policymakers are determined to keep lifting borrowing
costs until prices are brought under control.
Several officials have also recently reasserted the need to continue to
tighten monetary policy to get inflation down from four-decade highs, and
poured cold water on hopes for possible rate cuts in the new year.
All eyes are now on next week's central bankers' symposium in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, where finance chiefs and central bankers will speak, with all
attention on the utterances of Powell.
Wall Street's three main indices opened lower, while Asian and European
markets mostly fell heading into the weekend pause.
- Key figures at
around 1330 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,572.04 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 13,638.40
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,527.92
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,754.04
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.6 percent at 33,794.18
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 28,930.33 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 19,773.03 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.6 percent at 3,3258.08 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0058 from $1.0095 Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1827 from $1.1937
Euro/pound: UP at 85.00 pence from 84.56 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 137.00 yen from 135.88 yen
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.5 percent at $90.09 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $95.74 per barrel
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