Global Stocks Mixed After U.S. Factory Data Prompt Wall St. Retreat

Global stocks were mixed on Tuesday after Wall Street retreated as surprisingly strong US manufacturing data cast doubts over how soon the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, reported Zimo Zhong for the Associated Press (AP).

European markets opened mostly higher, but Germany’s DAX then slipped, losing 0.1% to 18,525.79.

European markets opened mostly higher, but Germany’s DAX then slipped, losing 0.1% to 18,525.79. In Paris, the CAC 40 was flat at 8,206.00. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,976.39.

The future for the S&P 500 was less than 0.1% lower and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3%. On Monday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% from its all-time high to finish at 5,243.77.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6% from its record to 39,566.85. The Nasdaq composite was an outlier and added 0.1% to 16,396.83.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong gained 2.4% to 16,931.52. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 3,074.96. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.1% higher at 39,838.91. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.2% to 2,753.16 after data showed the country’s consumer prices rose 3.1% in March.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia gave up 0.1% to 7,887.90 after the country’s manufacturing sector index contracted to 47.3 in March from 47.8 in February.

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