EU to cut power use, levy energy companies

BEIJING: Global stocks were mixed Friday after inflation in 19 countries that use Europe’s euro currency spiked to a record and Chinese factory activity weakened.

London and Frankfurt opened higher, while Shanghai and Tokyo declined while Hong Kong advanced.

Wall Street futures rebounded after the benchmark S&P 500 index fell Thursday to its lowest level in almost two years. Oil prices edged higher.

Inflation in Germany, France and other euro zone countries accelerated to 10 percent in September from the previous month’s 9.1 percent, the statistics agency Eurostat reported. That was the highest since record keeping for the euro began in 1997.

Investors increasingly worry the global economy might tip into recession following aggressive interest rate hikes this year by the US Fed and central banks in Europe and Asia to cool inflation that is at multi-decade highs.

Markets slid this week after British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced plans for tax cuts that investors worry will push inflation higher. Meanwhile, global export demand is weakening and Russia’s attack on Ukraine has disrupted oil and gas markets.

“We’d be inclined to argue that we haven’t yet seen the bottom,” ING economists said in a report.

On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the world’s fourth-biggest economy faces a “double whammy” from inflation and surging energy prices.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.7 percent to 6,929.43 and Frankfurt’s DAX advanced 0.7 percent to 12,064.73. The CAC 40 in Paris added 0.6 percent to 5,708.42.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was 0.6 percent higher. That for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 2.1 percent to its lowest level in almost two years after strong US jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will stick to plans for more interest rate hikes.

The Dow slid 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite lost 2.8 percent.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.6 percent to 3,024.39 after surveys of manufacturers showed factory production, new export orders and manufacturing employment declined in September.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo fell 1.8 percent to 25,937.21 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.5 percent to 17,257.08. The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.7 percent to 2,155.49.

Sydney’s S&P ASX 200 sank 1.2 percent to 6,474.20 while India’s Sensex advanced 1.8 percent to 57,421.45. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets declined.

Stock markets and the value of the British pound rebounded Wednesday after the Bank of England said it would buy government bonds to support their price. But markets resumed their slide Thursday after Truss shrugged off criticism and defended her tax-cut plan despite a plea from the International Monetary Fund to reverse course.

The S&P 500 is on track to end September with an 8 percent loss for the month. It is down more than 20 percent for the year as investors wait for a break in inflation that has prompted the Fed to raise interest rates five times.

The yield on a two-year US Treasury, or the difference between its market price and the payout at maturity, widened to 4.2 percent on Thursday from Wednesday’s 4.14 percent.

Stronger-than-expected US employment data Thursday reinforced expectations the Fed will feel comfortable sticking to plans to raise interest rates further and keep them elevated through next year.

In China, surveys of manufacturers by business news magazine Caixin and an official industry group found production and new export orders declined. That was in line with expectations that a Chinese manufacturing boom would fade due to weak global demand.

“The downturn in external demand looks set to deepen,” Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.

In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost 49 cents to $81.72 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 92 cents Thursday to $81.23. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 58 cents to $87.76 per barrel in London. It lost 83 cents the previous session to $88.49.

The dollar edged down to 144.40 yen from Thursday’s 144.43 yen. The euro rose to 98.16 cents from 97.90 cents.