BANGKOK (AP) — World stocks fell mostly Tuesday after China reported on its economy. it expanded at a rate of 3% last year, less than half the rate of 2021.
European stocks fell and Asian stocks were mixed as investors watched whether Japan’s central bank would alter its long-standing policy of keeping its key interest rate at minus 0.1% when it concludes a policy meeting on Wednesday.
the chinese economy it is gradually reviving after virus checks and a real estate slump dragged down growth last year. Restrictions that were keeping millions of people at home have been lifted, but a surge in COVID-19 infections is keeping consumers wary about traveling, shopping and dining out. Data reported Tuesday showed growth in the world’s second-largest economy slid to 2.9% a year earlier in December from 3.9% in previous months.
The government has started to ease the crackdown on tech industries and provide more support to private companies and the real estate sector, seeking to stimulate a recovery.
“The good news is that there are now signs of stabilization, as the policy support doled out towards the end of 2022 is showing in the relative resilience of infrastructure investment and credit growth,” Louise Loo of Oxford Economics said in a research note.
Germany’s DAX lost 0.1% to 15,121.32 and Paris’ CAC 40 was down 1 point at 7,042.75. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 7,849.74. The S&P 500 future was 0.3% lower, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average future was down 0.2%.
US markets were closed Monday for a holiday. They ended last week with a profit.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to meet with her Chinese counterpart in Switzerland on Wednesday. Yellen and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He plan to discuss economic developments between the US and China at a time of lingering tensions over trade and technology.
In Asian trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2% to 26,138.68 and Mumbai’s Sensex gained 1% to 60,676.01.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.8% to 21,577.64 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.1% to 3,224.24. In Seoul, the Kospi lost 0.9% to 2,379.39. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was barely changed at 7,386.30.
The benchmark Bangkok index lost 0.1%.
The year has started with optimism that inflation is cooling off it could prompt the Federal Reserve to soon ease sharp interest rate hikes that slow the economy and risk triggering a recession. They also hurt investment prices.
Slowing segments of the US economy and still-high inflation are dragging down corporate earnings, one of the main levers that set stock prices. Friday marked the first big day for S&P 500 companies to show how they fared over the last three months of 2022, with a group of banks leading the way.
A big concern on Wall Street is that companies in the S&P 500 may report a drop in fourth-quarter earnings from a year earlier.
If the economy slips into a recession, as many investors expect, steeper earnings declines may be set for 2023. That’s why the upcoming earnings forecasts that CEOs give this reporting season may be even more important than your latest results.
In other trading on Tuesday, benchmark US crude oil lost 53 cents to $79.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.47 to $79.86 a barrel on Monday.
Brent crude, the standard price for international trade, rose 20 cents to $84.66 a barrel in London.
The dollar was trading at 128.74 Japanese yen, compared to 128.53 yen. The euro fell to $1.0819 from $1.0822.
