TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed on Wednesday after disappointingly high U.S. inflation data sent stocks sliding on Wall Street and raised prospects that interest rates will remain elevated for longer.
France’s CAC 40 gained nearly 0.2% in early trading to 7,637.28, while Germany’s DAX added 0.1% to 16,891.35. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5% to 7,547.62.
The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.2% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1%.
Market watchers were paying close attention to the outcome of the presidential election in Indonesia, one of Southeast Asia’s biggest economies and a supplier of strategically important resources like nickel.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index resumed trading after the Lunar New Year holiday, surging 0.8% to 15,879.38 after opening lower. Markets in mainland China remain closed all week.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.7% to 37,703.32. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.7% to 7,574.70. South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.1% to 2,620.42.
India’s Sensex gained 0.2% and the SET in Bangkok lost 0.6%.
Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the consumer price index rose 0.3% from December to January, up from a 0.2% increase the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices were up 3.1%.
Even after the surprising inflation report, the likeliest outcome is still for the U.S. economy to manage a perfect landing and avoid a painful recession as inflation cools, according to Alexandra Wilson-Elizondo, co-chief investment officer of the multi-asset solutions business in Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
But she said there is still a risk that the economy will fall into a recession under the weight of high interest rates, or that inflation will reaccelerate.
Fed officials have said they were penciling in three cuts to rates this year, as inflation hopefully cools toward their 2% target from its peak above 9% two summers ago. Earlier, traders were forecasting as many as six cuts in 2024. Now, they’re largely betting on three or four cuts.
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 4 cents to $77.83 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2 cents to $82.79 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar was hovering above 150 Japanese yen, falling to 150.59 yen from 150.86 yen. In other currency trading, the euro cost $1.0700, little changed from $1.0712.
