Stock market today: Global shares mostly slip ahead of speech by Fed's Powell
Global shares are mostly lower in muted trading ahead of a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that might point the way for future interest rate policy
TOKYO — Global shares were mostly lower in muted trading Wednesday ahead of a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that might point the way for future interest rate policy.
France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2% to 6,971.37 and Germany’s DAX lost 0.3% to 15,108.60. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up less than 0.1% to 7,413.84. The future for the S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% while that for the Dow industrials was unchanged.
Powell is due to address a conference in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday. Last week, investors took comments he made to suggest the Fed may finally be done with hiking interest rates this time around. Inflation has been moderating since peaking in the summer of 2022, and a recent jump in Treasury yields may be acting like a substitute for more rate hikes.
Since then Fed officials have indicated more increases might still be needed if inflation does not abate further. The Fed's main interest rate is now at its highest level since 2001, above 5.25%. The 10-year Treasury has fallen from above 5% to 4.60% as of early Wednesday.
Investors in Asia also are turning their attention to prospects for improved China-U.S. relations from meetings next week on the sidelines of a Pacific Rim summit.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meetings in San Francisco offer an opportunity for top leaders from the U.S. and China to mend troubled trade and political ties.
Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are due to meet then, and White House officials expect to make some modest announcements as part of the tete-a-tete, but fundamental
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