Wall Street indexes fell Monday, amid fears that the Federal Reserve may continue to tighten until it steers the economy into recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 340 points, or 1%, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 and Nasdaq fell 1.2% each.
A hotter-than-expected reading for November by ISM Services added to concerns that the Fed will continue to rally.
Tesla shares fell about 5.2% on reports of production cuts at its Shanghai factory, while Macau-linked casinos rose on hopes of easing Covid-19 restrictions.
Investors are looking forward to the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision next week at the conclusion of the central bank’s monetary policy meeting in December.
Europe
European stocks fell, on Monday, in cautious trading ahead of the publication of data on business activity amid concerns about the economic slowdown in the European Union. Stocks recorded gains for the seventh consecutive week, Friday, supported by China’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions in the wake of protests against the country’s strict “zero Covid” policy, and easing concerns about raising interest rates.
The European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.2% during trading, with shares of technology companies and industrial stocks recording the largest drop on the index.
The final services PMI figures are expected to be released at 9am GMT and are likely to show a continued slowdown in economic activity in the Eurozone in November.
At the same time, shares of British mobile operator Vodafone Group rose 1.6 percent in early trading.
The company had said: Chief Executive Officer Nick Reed will step down at the end of this year, and will be replaced on an interim basis by Chief Financial Officer Margherita Della Valle.
Japan
The Japanese Nikkei index closed slightly higher on Monday, supported by gains in Fast Retailing, owner of Uniqlo stores, and heavyweight technology stocks.
The Nikkei index rose 0.15 percent to close at 27,820.40 points, while the broader Topix index fell 0.31 to 1,947.90 points.
In the United States, the Standard & Poor’s 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed slightly lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday; The November jobs report fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve (the US central bank) will maintain its policy of raising interest rates to combat inflation.
Fast Retailing jumped 3.11 percent, providing the biggest boost to the Nikkei index after the operator of Uniqlo clothing stores reported last week that average purchases per customer rose 6.5 percent in November.
Robotics maker Fanuc rose 2.73 percent to be the top supporter of the Topix index. Shiseido Cosmetics rose 2.83 percent, as hopes rose for increased purchases of cosmetics amid China’s easing of anti-Covid-19 restrictions.
The insurance and banking sectors fell 0.9 percent and 0.68 percent, respectively, amid lower US Treasury yields.
Asia
Stocks rose in the Asia-Pacific region on Monday; China has relaxed virus testing rules in some cities, signaling further easing in the country, which has been under strict COVID-19 restrictions for more than two years.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 4.12%, leading gains in the region, with technology stocks gaining 8.23%. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.76% and the Shenzhen component rose 0.92%.
And the authorities of the city of Shanghai, the financial center of China, canceled some of the required Covid-19 tests, in the latest easing of the “zero Covid” policy used to curb the spread of the Corona virus, following protests that China had not witnessed in decades.
Several Chinese cities began to roll back some restrictions after public discontent with harsh containment measures for Covid-19 last weekend led to unusually spontaneous protests.
And the Chinese authorities said in a post on the “WeChat” website on Sunday: that Shanghai residents will no longer need a negative test result for 48 hours to use public transportation and enter parks and tourist areas.
The city of more than 23 million people has been locked down for several months this year, severely affecting local economic activity.
Shanghai is following in the footsteps of several cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Chengdu, which all removed the requirement to have a negative test to use public transport on Saturday. On Saturday, local authorities in Beijing also waived the requirement to register a real name to purchase cold and fever medicine.
In addition, the stock index in Australia rose by 0.33%. South Korea’s Kospi index bucked the trend, declining by 0.62%. The MSCI index, the broadest of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan, rose 1.64%.
(agencies)