BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Thursday after strong U.S. hiring dampened hopes that the Federal Reserve could ease plans to hike interest rates and the group of oil exporters from OPEC agreed to cut production to support prices.
London, Frankfurt and Tokyo won. Hong Kong refused. Mainland Chinese markets were closed for a holiday.
Oil prices have risen. The Euro rose slightly but remained below $1.
Wall Street futures fell slightly after U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday following a report by payroll processor ADP that employers added 208,000 jobs in September. It showed that parts of the economy are still strong, giving arguments to Fed officials who say more rate hikes are needed to calm inflation which is at its highest level in four decades.
“The economy is too strong for the Fed to pivot. The good start to October is over,” Oanda’s Edward Moya said in a statement.
In early trading, London’s FTSE 100 rose less than 0.1% to 7,059.11. Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.7% to 12,610.37 and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.4% to 6,006.97.
On Wall Street, the future of the benchmark S&P 500 was down 0.2%. That of the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1%.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% to 27,311.30 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.4% to 18,012.15.
The Kospi in Seoul jumped 1% to 2,237.86 while Sydney’s S&P ASX 200 lost less than 0.1% to 6,817.50.
New Zealand fell while Southeast Asian markets rose.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 lost 0.2%. The benchmark was coming off its strongest two-day rally in 2.5 years.
The Dow slid 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%.
Investors are hoping data showing the economy is weakening will persuade the Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia to ease rate hikes. They fear aggressive action to calm inflation could tip the global economy into recession, but forecasters say hopes that central bankers will cave in may be premature.
Wall Street is awaiting corporate earnings results that will show how inflation is affecting businesses and consumers’ willingness to spend.
Fed officials say they are determined to keep raising interest rates and keep them high until it is clear that inflation has come down.
Traders get another U.S. employment update when the government releases its official jobs tally on Friday.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 74 cents to $88.50 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
It gained $1.24 on Wednesday to $87.76 a barrel after energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut production to support the price drop.
Crude jumped to over $110 a barrel after February’s Russian attack on Ukraine, but has retreated. The move to prop up prices could help Moscow maintain revenue once Europe’s decision to cut purchases of Russian crude as punishment for the war with Ukraine takes effect in December.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused OPEC of “aligning with Russia”.
Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trade, added 88 cents a barrel to $94.25 in London. It advanced $1.57 the previous session to $93.37.
The dollar rose to 144.63 yen from 144.49 yen on Wednesday. The euro gained 98.96 cents against 98.94 cents.
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