TOKYO (`) — Global stocks were mixed Thursday as European markets declined following gains in Asia, where Chinese stocks…
TOKYO (`) — Global stock markets were mixed Thursday as European markets fell after gains in Asia, where Chinese stocks rose after Beijing announced a series of measures to support weakening markets.
France's CAC 40 lost 0.2% to 7,440.66 and Germany's DAX slipped 0.3% to 16,849.26. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 7,521.19. The future of the S&P 500 was little changed, while that of the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%.
The European Central Bank was expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday, and at its meeting ECB chief Christine Lagarde could send a message to financial markets to cool them with expectations of rapid rate cuts.
The ECB chief faces financial markets expecting interest rate cuts as early as April and stock prices that have risen and fallen on hopes of a boost from lower interest rates.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 2.0% to 16,211.96, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.0% to 2,906.11.
Late Wednesday, China's central bank announced a set of rules for lending to real estate developers. It previously said it would cut banks' reserve requirements to inject about 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) into the economy.
China's economy has slowed and forecast growth is below 5% this year, the lowest since 1990 if the COVID-19 pandemic years are excluded. A debt crisis in the real estate industry has exacerbated other longer-term problems.
Shares of Chinese property developers jumped on Thursday, with China Evergrande up 6.4% and Country Garden up 5.9%.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was little changed, closing about 10 points higher at 36,236.47.
Speculation is growing that the Bank of Japan will end its negative interest rate policy later this year, and investors are bracing for what that could mean for the country's inflation and its currency.
South Korea's Kospi rose less than 1 point to 2,470.34 after the country's central bank reported the economy grew at a better-than-expected quarterly rate of 0.6% in the final quarter of 2023.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 7,555.40.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 4,868.55, setting a record for the fourth straight day. Gains in technology stocks lifted the Nasdaq composite 0.4% and Dow industrials lost 0.3%.
Stock prices have largely risen to record levels recently on hopes that cooling inflation will convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year.
Later on Thursday, the government is expected to report that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of about 2% in October-December, slowing from the robust 4.9% annual growth rate in the previous quarter.
Economic reports later in the week could further influence expectations for rate cuts this year. On Thursday, the government will release its first estimate of how fast the economy grew through the end of 2023. A day later, it will release the latest monthly update on the inflation measure the Federal Reserve prefers to use.
In energy trading, U.S. crude oil prices rose $1.23 to $76.32 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.13 to $80.77 a barrel.
In foreign exchange trading, the US dollar rose to 147.60 Japanese yen from 147.51 yen. The euro was at $1.0900, up from $1.0884.
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