| |
World Shares, US Futures Slip Monday 12/01 04:48
U.S. futures and world shares were mostly lower Monday, with Tokyo's
benchmark falling nearly 2% after the Bank of Japan's governor hinted at a
possible interest rate hike.
BANGKOK (AP) -- U.S. futures and world shares were mostly lower Monday, with
Tokyo's benchmark falling nearly 2% after the Bank of Japan's governor hinted
at a possible interest rate hike.
Oil prices surged more than $1 a barrel.
Early Monday, the future for the S&P 500 was down 0.6%, while that for the
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%.
Germany's DAX lost 1% to 23,589.90, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5% to
8,079.94. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower, to 9,707.68.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.9% to 49,303.28. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda
told reporters he expects the central bank to discuss a possible rate hike at
its Dec. 19 meeting.
Japan's benchmark interest rate, at 0.5%, has remained near zero for years
as its leaders struggled to spur faster economic growth and counter deflation.
With inflation holding steady above its target of about 2%, the BOJ is caught
between raising rates to counter rising prices and a weaker currency, and
supporting easy credit to keep businesses borrowing and consumers spending.
Regional reports on manufacturing activity are being closely watched for
signs of how U.S. President Donald Trump's higher tariffs are affecting Asian
economies.
A survey of Japanese factory managers released Monday showed activity
slowing in November. The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers
index, or PMI, was at 48.7 last month, a slight improvement from 48.2 in
October but still in contractionary territory on a scale of zero to 100 where
50 marks the cutoff for expansion. It was the fifth straight month of
contraction.
"The latest PMI data showed that Japan's manufacturing sector continued to
struggle with weak demand conditions in November, with firms signaling another
solid decline in overall new business," Annabel Fiddes, economics associate
director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a report.
China's factory activity contracted for the eighth straight month in
November, according to an official survey released Sunday, underscoring
challenges for the country's economy despite an extension of the trade truce
between the U.S. and China.
But Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.7% to 26,033.26, while the Shanghai
Composite index gained 0.7% to 3,914.01.
In Seoul, the Kospi slipped 0.2% to 3,920.37. Australia's S&P/ASX 200
declined 0.6% to 8,565.20.
Taiwan's Taiex lost 1% and the Sensex in India shed 0.1%.
Across Asia, PMI readings reflected weak factory activity for November,
though exports from the region have been rebounding in recent months, Shivaan
Tandon, Asia economist for Capital Economics, said in a commentary.
Consumer spending during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retailing bonanza
was expected to exceed expectations, despite uncertainty over the outlook for
the U.S. economy.
During Friday's abbreviated post Thanksgiving session, the S&P 500 rose 0.5%
and the Dow gained 0.6%. The Nasdaq gained 0.7%.
Trading was halted for all three for hours on Friday due to a technical
issue at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The CME said the problem was tied to
an outage at a CyrusOne data center.
Stocks rallied last week on hopes for another Federal Reserve rate cut after
swooning in mid-November as investors fretted over the durability of the frenzy
around artificial intelligence.
Nvidia lost 1.8% Friday, ending the month with a double-digit loss. Oracle
fell 23% in November while Palantir Technologies sank 16%.
Some tech stocks did notch monthly gains, most notably Alphabet, which rose
nearly 14%, due to excitement about its recently released Gemini AI model.
The U.S. central bank, which has already cut rates twice this year in hopes
of shoring up the slowing job market, is facing an increasingly difficult
decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting
interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens,
but it could also fuel inflation.
The minutes of the Fed's most recent meeting in October indicated there are
likely to be strong divisions among policymakers about the Fed's next step.
In other trading early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.14 to
$59.69 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added $1.14 to
$63.52 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 155.25 Japanese yen from 156.14 yen. The euro rose
to $1.1622 from $1.1596.
Bitcoin dropped 4.3% to $87,115.
|
|
