World markets decline on Wall St losses

Bangkok: World shares fell Monday after last week's decline on Wall Street, while signs of a surge in coronavirus infections in China suggested progress may be uneven as it rolls back its "zero-COVID" pandemic restrictions. Attention was turning to an update on US consumer prices and the Federal Reserve's last meeting of the year.

The last big piece of data on inflation before the Fed's next decision is due Tuesday, when economists expect the consumer price index to show inflation slowed to 7.3 per cent last month from 7.7 per cent in October. Meetings of major central banks including the Fed mean "there is potential for a whole load of volatility in markets; especially given the palpable tensions between inflation risks and fears of policy-induced recession," analysts at Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

Germany's DAX lost 0.5 per cent to 14,295.91 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.4 per cent to 6,653.29. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 0.3 per cent to 7,453.26. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1 per cent lower. China was setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals as it rolls back anti-virus controls that confined millions of people to their homes, crushed economic growth and set off protests.

The precautions come as the number of cases appeared to be rising, though a sharp reduction in the number of tests being administered makes measuring any changes difficult. President Xi Jinping's government is officially committed to stopping virus transmission, the last major country to try. But the latest moves suggest the ruling Communist Party has decided to tolerate more cases without quarantines or shutting down travel or businesses as it winds down its "zero-COVID" strategy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 2.1 per cent to 19,475.16 and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.9 per cent to 3,179.04.

Shares in e-commerce and other tech-related companies that thrived during the days of lockdowns as home deliveries soared were sharply lower. Meituan fell 7 per cent and Baidu also dropped 7 per cent. E-commerce giant Alibaba sank 3.8 per cent and JD.com lost 2.9 per cent.