Stock market today: Global stocks are mixed as central banks hold off on rate cuts
European markets have opened higher after a mixed day of trading in Asia
HONG KONG — European markets opened higher on Thursday after a mixed day of thin trading in Asia after U.S. markets were closed in observance of Juneteenth.
In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 8,218.75, as investors focused on a Bank of England policy rate decision due later in the day. The central bank was expected to keep its main interest rate at a 16-year high of 5.25%, even after data released Wednesday showed that British inflation fell to the central bank’s 2% target in May, for the first time in nearly three years.
Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% to 18,180.98, and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.6% to 7,612.35.
The Swiss National Bank lowered its main policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing a drop in “underlying inflationary pressure” despite an uptick in some costs like rents, tourism services and oil products. The reduction to 1.25%, from 1.5%, will take effect on Friday, the SNB said in a statement,
Ahead of the reopening of U.S. markets, the future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed while that for the S&P 500 rose 0.4%.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2% to 38,633.02.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.5% to 18,335.32. The Hang Seng tech index retreated 1.7%, after jumping 3.7% on Wednesday, tracking Nvidia's advance. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.4% to 3,005.44.
The Chinese yuan was trading at its lowest level this year, with the central parity rate set at 7.1192 yuan to the U.S. dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
The central parity rate is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the interbank market opens each business
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