NEW YORK (AFP): World stock markets were mixed Friday as a Wall Street rally showed signs of fatigue, despite solid bank earnings and improving inflation data.
The European single currency meanwhile struck $1.1248, the highest level since February 2022, and oil prices slid before the weekend.
The US corporate earnings season entered full swing with big-hitting banks Citigroup, JPMorgan and Wells Fargo all reporting better-than-expected results or outlooks.
Their reports showed a lift from the industry’s ability to charge higher rates on credit cards and other loans, while not yet suffering as much of a hit from elevated interest payments to depositors.
But while JPMorgan and Wells Fargo both scored jumps in earnings, Citi’s profits fell 36 percent to $2.9 billion as it suffered due to weakness in its investment banking division.
The broad-based S&P 500 closed at 4,505.42, down 0.1 percent for the day but up 2.4 percent for the week.
After US stocks ended higher for four straight days, Friday’s mixed session “should be expected,” said Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments.
He considers the lackluster session the result of “a little bit of profit taking after a very strong rally.”
This week, traders welcomed more data showing falling US inflation, giving the Federal Reserve room to bring the curtain down on over a year of rate increases.
Global equities have been bubbling on hopes for an end to monetary tightening aimed at taming inflation — which was fueled by the post-Covid reopening, supply chain snarls and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
That came just as China pledges to introduce measures to kickstart its stuttering economy and bring an end to a painful crackdown on the huge tech sector.
Wall Street cheered news Thursday that wholesale prices rose less than expected in June. That followed Wednesday’s report showing the consumer price index came in below forecasts.
While the CPI remains above the Fed’s target, analysts said there is growing confidence that officials were winning their battle and the economy could avoid a feared recession.
Fed governor Christopher Waller said Thursday that he still expects two more interest rate hikes this year.
But despite Waller’s remarks, the “market still believes it is one-and-done for the Fed,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
Thursday’s upbeat mood filtered through to Asia, where Hong Kong rose for a fifth successive day thanks to a bounce in Chinese tech giants.
Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta also gained.
However, Tokyo struggled owing to a pick-up in the yen against the dollar, which has come under pressure against its peers on lower expectations about US rates.
