Wall Street’s main indexes fell Thursday, following data showed that consumer prices in February jumped as expected, boosting expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates later this month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179.48 points, or 0.54%, to 33,106.77 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell by 25.33 points, or 0.59%, at 4252.55 points, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 157.20 points, or 1.19%, to 13098.35 points.
European
European shares fell on Thursday, ahead of talks between Russia and Ukraine and the European Central Bank’s decision on monetary policies that might highlight the impact of the conflict on the euro zone economy.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.7% in early trading, following rising in the previous session, which witnessed its best daily performance since March 2020.
During the trading, the Paris stock exchanges lost 2.05%, Frankfurt 2.21%, and Milan 2.31%. As for London, the most resilient since the start of the Ukrainian crisis, it lost 1% of its value.
Automakers were the biggest decliners, while low-risk stocks such as real estate and healthcare stocks recorded small losses, and oil stocks rose.
The European Central Bank is likely to make limited commitments on monetary policy; The shock of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed his outlook for the economy, with inflation in the eurozone already at a record high.
German fashion house Hugo Boss fell 4.0%, following announcing a temporary suspension of its business in Russia, but its expectations are optimistic for 2022.
Shares of French media group Vivendi rose 0.8%, following it announced a doubling of core operating profit in 2021.
Japan
The Japanese Nikkei index recorded the largest rise in 21 months, Thursday, following the footsteps of global stocks, in light of the recovery of market sentiment; It looked as if Ukraine and Russia would resume diplomatic talks, with oil prices pulling back some of their recent gains.
The Nikkei rose 3.94% to close at 25690.40 points, and the prices of 222 shares rose from the 250 listed on it. This rise came following the index lost 7% in the previous four sessions, to its lowest level since November 2020, which amounted to 24,681.74 points, on Wednesday.
Shares of all sectors rose on Thursday, and the basic materials sector achieved the largest gains, jumping 6.18%, followed by the real estate and consumer sectors, which are closely related to the economic cycle, by 4.72%, and the technology and automobile sectors also rose.
The broader Topix index rose 4.04% following falling 6.5% in the previous four sessions.
Showa Denko Chemical Co. was the biggest gainer on the Nikkei as a percentage, increasing 10.40%. In the auto sector, Suzuki shares rose 8.85%, Nissan 8.61%, and Toyota 5.42%.
Chip maker Tokyo Electron rose 4.81%, Advantest 3.89%, and Renesas 4.97%. (Archyde.com)
