World Stock Prices Fall As Wall Street Grumbles About High Inflation

World markets slipped Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, after Wall Street fell the most since June 2020 as a report showed inflation has kept a surprisingly strong grip on the US economy, Elaine Kurtenbach reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Tuesday’s report showed US inflation slowed only to 8.3% in August, instead of the 8.1% economists expected.

European benchmarks were marginally lower while Asia saw bigger losses. US futures edged higher, with the contracts for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 up 0.3%. European futures were lower.

Tuesday’s report showed US inflation slowed only to 8.3% in August, instead of the 8.1% economists expected. That dashed hopes that inflation was falling back to more normal levels after peaking in June at 9.1%, allowing the Federal Reserve to moderate its interest rate hikes.

Now, traders are bracing for the Federal Reserve to ultimately raise interest rates more than expected to combat inflation, with all the risks for the economy that entails.

Germany’s DAX lost 0.2% to 13,165.86 and the CAC 40 in Paris gave up 0.3% to 6,2275. Britain’s FTSE 10 shed 0.7% to 7,334.75. The futures for the Dow industrials and S&P 500 both were down about 0.3%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 2.3% to 18,875.59 and the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.8%, to 3,237.54. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 2.8% to 27,818.62, while Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 2.6% to 6,828.60.

In Seoul, the Kospi lost 1.6% to 2,411.42. On Tuesday, the Dow lost more than 1,250 points and the S&P 500 sank 4.3% after Tuesday’s hotter-than-expected report on inflation. The Nasdaq composite closed 5.2% lower.

The dollar bought 143.47 Japanese yen, down from 144.57 yen late Tuesday. The euro rose to 0.9981 cents, up from 0.9969 cents. US benchmark crude lost 47 cents to $86.84 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 47 cents to $87.31 on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the international pricing standard, gave up 53 cents to $92.64 per barrel.

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