Global Stock Gain As Fed Hints At Lower Rate Hikes

Global stock markets and Wall Street futures rose Wednesday ahead of the release of notes from a Federal Reserve meeting that investors hope might show the US central bank is moderating plans for more interest rate hikes to cool inflation, Joe McDonald reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.8% to 14,181.67.

London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Seoul rose. Oil prices declined. Wall Street fell Tuesday on the year’s first trading day after recording its biggest annual decline in 14 years in 2022.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.1% to 7,563.34. The DAX in Frankfurt rose 0.8% to 14,181.67 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.4% to 6,623.89. On Wall Street, the future for the benchmark S&P 500 index was up 0.2%.

That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1% higher. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Dow slipped less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8%.

Technology stocks were among the biggest weights on the market. Apple fell 3.7%, leaving its market value below $2 trillion for the first time since March 8, 2021.

Shares in the iPhone maker fell nearly 27% in 2022, their first annual decline in four years. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained less than 0.1% to 3,118.94 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 1.5% to 25,716.86 on its first trading day of the year.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 2.3% to 20,615.21. The Kospi in Seoul added 1.7% to 2,255.98. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 advanced 1.6% to 7,059.20. India’s Sensex gained 0.2% to 61.294.20. New Zealand advanced while Southeast Asian markets declined.

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