Global stocks rebound after Wall St fall on economy fears

BEIJING (AP): Global stocks and Wall Street futures rebounded Friday after tumbling the previous day on fears economic activity will be depressed by interest rate hikes to cool inflation.

London, Frankfurt, Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo retreated. Oil prices rose to stay close to $120 per barrel.

Wall Street’s S&P 500 index lost 3.3% on Thursday and other major benchmarks also sank after Britain’s central bank followed the Federal Reserve in raising its key rate. Central banks in Switzerland and Taiwan also raised rates.

Investors worry the moves to control inflation that is running at four-decade highs might tip the U.S. and other major economies into recession.

“Pain is being inflicted almost everywhere and sharing doesn’t make it better in any way,” said Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.6% to 7,088.40 and Frankfurt’s DAX advanced 0.7% to 13,133.05. The CAC 40 in Paris was 0.6% higher at 5,918.85.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was up 0.9% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.8% higher.

On Thursday, the Dow lost 2.4% and the Nasdaq dropped 4.1%.

The S&P 500 is 23.6% below its Jan. 3 record. That erases gains from 2021, one of Wall Street’s best years this century.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1% to 3,316.79 after spending part of the day in negative territory. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.1% to 21,075.00.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.8% to 25,963.00 after Japan’s central bank ended a two-day meeting with no changes to its benchmark rate of negative 0.1%. The Bank of Japan has avoided joining in raising rates, which has caused the yen to call to two-decade lows against the dollar.

The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.4% to 2,440.93 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 tumbled 1.8% to 6,474.80.

India’s Sensex shed 0.3% to 51,350.24. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined.

Along with raising rates, some of the trillions of dollars of bonds bought by the Fed to inject money into the U.S. financial system during the pandemic are being allowed to roll of its balance sheet. That should put upward pressure on market interest rates.

Fewer American workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than a week before. But more signs of trouble have been emerging.

President Joe Biden told The Associated Press on Thursday he saw reasons for optimism.

A recession is “not inevitable,” Biden said.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. oil advanced 76 cents to $118.36 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.27 on Thursday to $117.58. Brent crude, the price basis for international trading, was 56 cents higher at $120.37 per barrel in London. It gained $1.30 the previous session to $119.81.

The dollar gained to 134.43 yen from Thursday’s 132.00 yen. The euro declined to $1.0517 from $1.0573.