Global Shares Rise: Eyes on Earnings and Inflation

On Monday, global stock markets mostly saw gains as investors awaited earnings reports from leading worldwide companies and a report on consumer prices, which is expected to serve as an indicator of inflation in the U.S.

In early trading, France’s CAC 40 rose by 0.4% to 8,095.02, and Germany’s DAX increased by 0.5% to 18,258.45. The FTSE 100 in Britain saw a slight increase, moving up less than 0.1% to 18,258.45. In contrast, futures in the U.S. indicated a slight downtrend, with Dow futures dropping by 0.1% to 39,198.00 and S&P 500 futures decreasing nearly 0.1% to 5,248.50.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan experienced a 0.9% rise, ending at 39,347.04. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 went up by 0.2% to 7,789.10, and South Korea’s Kospi increased by 0.1% to 2,717.65. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong saw a marginal gain, while the Shanghai Composite in China declined by 0.7% to 3,047.05.

Market analyst at IG, Yeap Jun Rong, noted that while market sentiment appears to be recovering from earlier concerns, investors might remain cautious ahead of the upcoming U.S. consumer price index report this week.

This report on consumer prices in March is highly anticipated. The robust addition of 303,000 jobs in March has been a significant factor in maintaining consumer spending and company earnings, amidst the backdrop of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rates being at a two-decade high due to rate hikes aimed at controlling inflation.

With strong employment and consumer spending, there are growing apprehensions that reducing inflation to below 3% and achieving the Fed’s 2% target rate could prove challenging. Analysts have pointed out that recent increases in energy prices, crucial for oil-importing economies like Japan, are a concern, although these prices saw a decrease in Asia on Monday.

These price pressures are exacerbated by signs of economic recovery in various areas, anticipated to boost energy consumption, and by geopolitical tensions that often lead to price surges.

In the commodities market, U.S. crude oil saw a decrease of 90 cents to $86.01 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped by 98 cents to $90.19 a barrel.

In the forex market, the U.S. dollar experienced a slight increase against the Japanese yen, moving to 151.89 from 151.61, and the euro dipped to $1.0831 from $1.0841.