Hopes on rate pause propel Asian indices up

Bangkok: Stock market today: Hopes that interest rate hikes will abate push world shares higher

Bangkok, Oct 10 (AP) Shares climbed Tuesday in Europe and Asia after Wall Street advanced on potentially encouraging news about interest rates, which have been dragging markets lower since the summer.

The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that the world economy is losing momentum in the face of higher interest rates, the war in Ukraine and widening geopolitical rifts. Global economic growth is forecast to slow to 2.9 per cent in 2024 from an expected 3 per cent this year, the IMF said. The forecast for next year is down a notch from the 3 per cent it predicted back in July. But fuelled by optimism over a respite from rising interest rates, Germany’s DAX jumped 1.6 per cent to 15,375.23 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.4 per cent to 7,117.90.

Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.5 per cent to 7,604.40. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.2 per cent higher. On Monday, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 per cent, flipping from losses to gains after two Federal Reserve officials suggested interest rates might remain steady at their next policy meeting because a jump in longer-term bond yields may be helping to cool inflation without further market-rattling hikes by the Fed.

The Dow gained 0.6 per cent and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4 per cent. In Asian trading Tuesday, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.4 per cent to 31,746.53 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong picked up 0.8 per cent to 17,644.73. India’s Sensex advanced 0.9 per cent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 1 per cent to 7,040.60. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.3 per cent to 2,402.58. In Bangkok the SET gained 0.2 per cent.