By YURI KAGEYAMA
AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — Global stocks fell mostly Wednesday as concerns about the global economy flared after a slide on Wall Street, despite some better-than-expected earnings reports.
France’s CAC 40 lost 0.6% in early trading to 7,489.17, while Germany’s DAX fell 0.5% to 15,799.39. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 7,869.14. But US stocks were set to rise with Dow futures rising 0.1% to 7,869.14. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% to 4,109.75.
Oil prices rose.
“From a banking crisis that still lurks below the surface to the realization that Russia has incredibly accurate long-range missiles that no one has the ability to stop, to the Sino-US tensions markedly higherMore sanctions against Russia and China, and the likely collapse of world trade and a resurgence of higher inflation, the risks are enormous,” Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities, said in a comment.
“None of this paints a pretty picture. However, this is the reality of the current moment, ”she said.
In Asian trade, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.7% to end at 28,416.47. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell nearly 0.1% to 7,316.30. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.2% at 2,484.83. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7% to 19,757.27, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed at 3,264.10.
Shares of Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. fell 0.7% after the company announced plans to intensify its shift to electric vehicles.
On Wall Street on Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 1.6%, coming off a week-long pause. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite sank 2% to 11,799.16.
Reported US earnings have so far exceeded modest economists’ expectations.
Looking ahead, forecasts point to the worst drop in S&P 500 earnings since spring 2020, when the pandemic froze the global economy. Therefore, Wall Street focuses as much, if not more, on what companies say about their future prospects than what they say about the past three months.
High interest rates aimed at controlling inflation slowed down the entire economy, hurting investment prices. Large portions of the economy, in addition to employment, have already begun to slow or contract.
A report on Tuesday showed that Consumer confidence fell sharper in April than expected, to its lowest level since July. That’s a grim sign when consumer spending makes up the bulk of the American economy.
The Federal Reserve meets next week and may raise interest rates at least one more time before pausing.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 39 cents to $77.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 21 cents to $80.98 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar fell to 133.55 Japanese yen from 133.72 yen. The euro cost $1.1035, compared to $1.0977.
