Yahoo Finance Wall Street higher as FTSE 100 closes in the red amid recession fears
The FTSE 100 and European stocks finished lower this Monday ahead of a busy week of central bank announcements and economic data that has sparked recession fears once more.
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) lost 0.44% to close at 7,443, while the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris retreated 0.39% to 6,651 points. In Germany, the DAX (^GDAXI) lost 0.45% to 14,305.
On Wall Street, markets were higher as investors awaited inflation data and the Federal Reserve's policy decision later this week.
The Dow Jones (^DJI) gained 0.83% to 33,753 as trading ceased across Europe. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.48% to 3,953 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) climbed 0.31% to 11,039.
The UK’s economy rebounded in October after a contraction in September when output was impacted by the extra bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral, but the respite is set to be brief.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: “We think that GDP will fall by about 0.3% month-to-month in both November and December, leaving it down 0.2% on a quarter-on-quarter basis.”
Read more: UK economy returned to growth in October with 0.5% rise in GDP
“Activity indicators from S&P Global, Lloyds and the CBI, as well as the extremely low level of GfK’s consumer confidence index, all are consistent on past form with falling GDP.”
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L) jumped 2.92% in early trading as Microsoft (MSFT) announced a 10-year partnership with the group and took a near 4% stake in the UK bourse operator. At Friday’s closing price, a 4% stake was valued at around £1.6bn ($1.96bn).
Meanwhile, Brent crude (BZ=F) was hovering around $78 per barrel, as a key pipeline supplying the United States remained shut while Russian president Vladimir Putin threatened to cut production in retaliation for a Western price cap on its exports.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) fell 0.21% to finish at 27,842 while the Hang Seng (^HSI) in Hong Kong plunged 2.29% to 19,444. The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) lost 0.87% to 3,179 points.
