Global stocks mixed after Wall Street ends May with gain
Global stock markets were mixed Monday after Wall Street ended May with a gain and Japan’s factory output grew less than expected.
The market in London opened higher while Frankfurt‘s retreated. Tokyo‘s declined while those in Shanghai and Hong Kong gained.
Wall Street futures were higher. U.S. markets were closed for the Memorial Day holiday.
Investors are wavering between optimism about consumer spending and factory output reviving and unease that rising inflation might prompt governments and central banks to withdraw stimulus.
London’s FTSE 100 closed up less than 0.1% at 7,022.61. The DAX in Frankfurt fell 0.6% to 15,421.13 while in Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.6% to close at 6,447.17.
Some businesses cut hours, services and staff, or closed altogether. But many have survived beyond their expectations.
On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average rose less than 0.1%.
On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to end May with a monthly gain of 0.5% after bumpy weeks of selling as investors watched the conflict between economic recovery and rising inflation pressures.
The Dow added 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.1%.
In Asia, the Shanghai composite index gained 0.4% to 3,615.48 after an industry group and the national statistics agency reported manufacturing activity held steady in May, adding to signs a rebound is leveling off.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo tumbled 1% to 28,860.08 after May retail sales fell 4.5% from the previous month. May factory output rose above pre-pandemic levels for the first time but the 2.5% growth was lower than expected.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose less than 0.1% to 29,151.80, while the Kospi in Seoul rose 0.5% to 3,203.92. The S&P-ASX 200 in Sydney slipped 0.2% to 7,161.60.
India’s Sensex advanced 1% to 51,965.87. New Zealand, Bangkok and Jakarta gained while Singapore retreated.
The U.S. Commerce Department said personal consumption expenditures, a measure of inflation used by the Federal Reserve, rose 3.6% in April. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, inflation was 3.1%, well above the Fed’s long-term target of 2%.
Fed officials said earlier that the economy would be allowed to “run hot” to make sure a recovery is established, but investors worry about unexpectedly sharp rises in prices of consumer goods and some commodities. They have been at least temporarily reassured by comments from Fed officials that it is too early to change direction.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 68 cents to $67.00 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 43 cents on Friday to $66.32 per barrel. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 66 cents to $69.38 per barrel in London. It gained 17 cents the previous session to $69.63.
The dollar declined to 109.70 Japanese yen from Friday’s 109.81 yen. The euro edged down to $1.2189 from $1.2197.
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