Global stocks mostly lower as investors await Fed speech
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — Global stocks mostly slipped Friday as investors awaited a speech by Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen later in the day. Markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai lost ground ahead of Sunday’s opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE lost 0.2 per cent to 7,364 while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6 per cent to 4,991. Germany’s DAX dropped 0.2 per cent to 12,031. Wall Street looked set for a slow start, with Dow futures flat and S&P futures down 0.2 per cent.
FED WATCH: Yellen is scheduled to give a speech in Chicago later Friday. Her speech, along with jobs data next week, will give more clues to investors on whether the Fed will raise interest rates again already this month. U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in decades last week, strengthening the belief that the central bank is moving closer to achieving its full employment and inflation targets, analysts said.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: Expectations are high that the Federal Reserve will raise rates this month. “If this were happening a year ago, share markets would have gone into a tailspin. But because the U.S. economy is stronger now, the Fed’s confidence in the outlook actually seems to be supporting the share market,” said Shane Oliver of AMP Capital. But he added that, “After the strong gains since the U.S. election, the likelihood of a short-term share market correction remains high.”