Global shares fall amid interest rate, earnings worries
Japan's Nikkei 225, South Korea's Kospi, Hang Seng, Shanghai, Dow and Nasdaq posted losses
Tokyo: European stocks declined on Monday, tracking losses in Asia as worries over interest rate hikes dominated an array of investor concerns.
The Shanghai Composite index sank 5.1 per cent and Hong Kong fell 3.7 per cent as China reinforced its stringent pandemic policies while case numbers rose. Oil prices slipped more than $4 per barrel, and the US dollar was trading near 128 Japanese yen. France's CAC 40 dropped 2.0 per cent in early trading to 6,451.27.
The news that Emmanuel Macron won the run-off French presidential election over the weekend, clinching a second term as was widely expected, reassured markets that France won't abruptly shift course in the midst of the war in Ukraine. But the significant show by contender Marine Le Pen, a populist and nationalist, served as a reminder of how fragile that situation might be, analysts said. Le Pen pledged to dilute French ties with the EU, NATO and Germany, and spoke out against EU sanctions on Russian energy supplies.
Germany's DAX lost 1.4 per cent to 13,943.88. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 2.2 per cent to 7,354.94. The future for the Dow industrials was down 0.7 per cent while that for the S nad P 500 fell 0.8 per cent. In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1.9 per cent to finish at 26,590.78.
South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.8 per cent to 2,657.13. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 770 points to 19,869.34, while the Shanghai Composite shed 158 points to 2,928.51, dipping below 3,000 for the first time since July 2020. Hong Kong-traded shares in Internet company Baidu slumped 7 per cent, while PetroChina lost 4 per cent on falling oil prices.
