SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Global stock markets were mostly weaker Thursday after consecutive losses on Wall Street and as New Zealand’s central bank signaled it had finished cutting interest rates.
KEEPING SCORE: Europe got off to a weak start with Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.3 percent to 6,108.50. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.4 percent to 4,619.57 and Germany’s DAX dropped 0.2 percent to 10,568.81. Futures suggested Wall Street would rise after three straight days of losses. Dow futures rose 0.3 percent 10 17,521.00. S&P 500 futures gained 0.4 percent to 2,050.00.
CENTRAL BANKS: New Zealand’s central bank cut interest rates for the fourth time in six months by a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent. But it also signaled that it is not planning further cuts as inflation is expected to rise. Analysts said it was the latest sign that the central banks in developed countries, from Europe to Japan and the United States, are done with monetary easing.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “The next conclusion to be drawn is that central bank easing globally is at an end,” said Evan Lucas, a market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia. “Are we now at that point where central banks have steered the global economy though the post-GFC era?”
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 finished 1.3 percent lower at 19,046.55 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.5 percent to 21,704.61. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.8 percent to 5,037.70. China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.5 percent to 3,455.50. Stocks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore were lower but South Korea’s Kospi finished 0. 2 percent higher at 1,952.07.
DATA WATCH: Later in the day, the U.S. Labor Department reports on the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week. That will give investors the latest update on the U.S. job market a week before a Federal Reserve meeting that is expected to raise interest rates from a record low. In last Thursday’s report, more people applied for U.S. unemployment benefits, but the levels remain near historic lows that indicate a healthy job market.
ENERGY: Oil recovered moderately from the previous session but it was still lower than the closing price on Feb. 13, 2009 when the global economy was deep in crisis. Benchmark U.S. crude was up 27 cents at $37.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling 35 cents to close at $37.16 in New York on Wednesday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 54 cents to $40.65 in London. On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency’s chief said he expected oil prices to remain low next year.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 121.79 yen from 121.59 in the previous trading session. The euro fell to $1.0976 from $1.1023.
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