Global stock markets and Wall Street futures are higher as traders wait for signs of interest rate plans from this week’s Federal Reserve conference
Stock market today: World markets, Wall St futures rise ahead of Federal Reserve conferenceBy JOE McDONALDAP Business WriterThe Associated PressBEIJING
BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rose Tuesday as traders waited for signs of interest rate plans from this week’s Federal Reserve conference.
London, Shanghai, Paris and Tokyo rose. Oil prices declined.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose Monday for its first gain in five days as tech stocks rallied.
Traders hope officials at the Fed’s summer Jackson Hole, Wyoming, conference say they are finished raising interest rates that are at a two-decade high. But forecasters warn they might say inflation isn’t under control yet.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell “may even mention that further rate hikes cannot be entirely ruled out,” said Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities in a report.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.2% to 7,274.01. The CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.9% to 7,265.01 and the DAX in Frankfurt added 0.9% to 15,749.52.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was up 0.3%. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.2%.
On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7%, lifted by Big Tech stocks even though the majority of stocks within the index fell.
Nvidia jumped 8.5% and Microsoft advanced 1.7%. Tesla rose 7.3% to recover some of last year week’s 11% loss. Security software maker Palo Alto Networks jumped 14.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500.
The Dow slipped 0.1% while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.6%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9% to 3,120.22 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.9% to 31,856.71. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.9% to 17,791.01.
The Kospi in Seoul added 0.3% to 2,515.74 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 was 0.1% higher at 7,121.60.
India’s Sensex gained less than 0.1% to 65,254.06. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets advanced.
Traders hope the Fed will decide upward pressure on prices is easing even though consumer inflation accelerated in July to 3.2% from the previous month’s 3%. That is down from last year’s peak above 9% but more than the Fed’s 2% target.
Economists say squeezing out the last bit of inflation may be the Fed’s hardest challenge.
The Jackson Hole meeting is closely watched because Fed officials have used it to announce policy changes in the past.
The Fed indicated in minutes from its July meeting that it would make future decisions based on hiring, inflation and other data. The government is due to release its monthly jobs report and an inflation update next week.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 29 cents to $79.83 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, shed 34 cents to $84.12 per barrel in London.
The dollar declined to 145.61 yen from Monday’s 146.11 yen. The euro rose to $1.0917 from $1.0899.
