Global stocks trade mixed on the second day Chinese markets are open after the Lunar New Year break
From
YURI KAGEYAMA ` business journalist
February 20, 2024, 1:53 a.m. ET
2 minutes read
TOKYO — Global stocks traded mixed on Tuesday, the second day Chinese markets were open after the Lunar New Year break.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.3% to 7,788.86 in early trading, while Germany's DAX fell 0.3% to 17,047.67. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, rising less than 0.1% to 7,732.31. U.S. stocks are likely to move lower, with Dow futures slipping nearly 0.2% to 38,621.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% to 5,007.50.
Wall Street trading was closed in the United States on Monday for Presidents Day. Investors were generally less optimistic, expecting higher interest rates to take effect soon.
China's central bank left its benchmark one-year lending rate unchanged on Tuesday but cut its five-year lending rate by 25 basis points to 3.95%. This came as a surprise as the five-year interest rate was cut for the first time since May 2023.
“The five-year LPR cut is likely aimed at supporting the housing market recovery and could improve affordability for buyers by reducing mortgage rates,” said Lynn Song, chief economist at ING.
Benchmarks rose in China, but fell in Tokyo, Sydney and Seoul.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6% to 16,247.51, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 2,922.73.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to close at 38,363.61.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1% to 7,659.00. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.8% to 2,657.79.
A recent US report on wholesale inflation suggests that price increases are continuing. Such data tends to dampen hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates in March.
In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 6 cents to $79.25 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 28 cents to $83.33 a barrel.
In foreign exchange trading, the US dollar rose to 150.32 Japanese yen from 150.10 yen. The euro was at $1.0778, down from $1.0783.
Comments are closed.