LONDON: Asian and European stock markets mostly rose Tuesday after an Easter break, with focus turning to the release of US inflation data later in the week.
The upcoming consumer and wholesale price reports follow figures last week showing a healthy rise in new US jobs that reinforced expectations of another Federal Reserve interest rate hike next month.
“It does appear the US payrolls have seemingly steadied the ship,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes amid fears of recession as the Fed keeps on tightening borrowing costs aimed at cooling elevated inflation.
European stock markets rise at open
In Asia, data out of China showed consumer prices rose less than expected in March and factory costs dropped, suggesting there remains some weakness in the world’s second-largest economy even as it reopens after the lifting of Covid restrictions.
It does, however, provide the People’s Bank of China with room to unveil further growth-boosting measures.
The “economic recovery is on track but not strong enough to push up prices”, said Zhang Zhiwei at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“This suggests the economy is still running below its potential. There is room for fiscal and monetary policies to boost growth further.”
The US Consumer Price Index for March will be released on Wednesday.
Investors are also preparing themselves for the start of first-quarter earnings season, with banking titans JPMorgan and Citigroup among those reporting on Friday.
The corporate results will be closely watched following the recent banking crisis that shattered confidence in the financial sector.
On currency markets Tuesday, the yen rose against the dollar, even though the new head of Japan’s central bank, Kazuo Ueda, said no major rate hikes were on the horizon, adding that the country’s long-standing loose monetary policy remained “appropriate”.
Elsewhere, bitcoin traded above $30,000 for the first time in 10 months following a recent run higher.
Key figures around 1100 GMT
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,763.75 points
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 7,382.64
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 15,670.75
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 4,334.49
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 27,923.37 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 20,485.24 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,313.57 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 33,586.52 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0917 from $1.0865 on Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2446 from $1.2384
Euro/pound: UP at 87.72 pence at 87.70 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 133.04 yen from 133.59 yen
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $79.60 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $83.96 per barrel