Stock market today: World shares track slump on Wall St triggered by strong US spending data
Shares have skidded in Europe and Asia following a slump on Wall Street after a report showed American shoppers spent more at retailers last month than expected
BANGKOK — World shares skidded Tuesday following a slump on Wall Street after after a report showed American shoppers spent more at retailers last month than expected.
A strong U.S. economy might keep inflation from falling to a level where the Federal Reserve feels comfortable cutting interest rates. High interest rates and bond yields hurt prices for all kinds of investments.
U.S. futures edged 0.1% lower early Tuesday.
In Europe, Germany's DAX lost 1.4% to 17,767.98 while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 1.2% to 7,945.68. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 1.5% at 7,848.89.
The Chinese government reported that the economy, the world's second largest after the U.S., grew at a surprisingly fast 5.3% annual rate in the first quarter of the year. In quarterly terms it expanded at a 1.6% pace.
But while manufacturing and consumer spending were robust in January and February, helped by the Lunar New Year holidays, indicators are less rosy for March. House prices continued to fall and consumer spending slowed, while industrial output also weakened.
“The sky is not blue in China,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary, since such signals hint “that the underlying problems are not going away."
The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.7% to 3,007.07, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost 2.1% to 16,248.97.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.9% to 38,471.20 as the dollar continued to gain against the Japanese yen, hitting fresh 34-year highs. By late afternoon the dollar was trading at 154.51 yen, up from 154.27 yen.
The euro was unchanged at $1.0626.
Elsewhere in Asia,
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