Stock markets waver before central bank rate decisions / Photo: ALEX WONG - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
NYSE - LSE
Stock markets waver before central bank rate decisions
Stock markets wavered on Monday as traders looked ahead to interest-rate decisions this week from the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England.
While the Fed is expected to hold rates steady on Wednesday -- causing the dollar to drop -- the Bank of England is forecast to hike once more a day later.
Investors will be keeping a close watch also on the Bank of Japan's own policy decision this week.
The rate announcements come amid rising concerns that inflation will stay high for longer as oil prices head toward $100 per barrel.
"It's a big week ahead for central bank interest rate decisions, which can understandably make investors a bit jittery," noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
A recent run of indicators suggests the US economy and labour market remain resilient even after more than a year of interest rate hikes, meaning the central bank will have to keep open the option of another hike.
Market analyst Patrick O'Hare said with the Fed holding rates steady taken as a given at this point, investors are instead looking for indications on how policymakers see the outlook for the future.
"The catalyst will be the updated Summary of Economic Projections and dot plot, and what they confer about the expected policy path," he said.
The "dot plot" is a chart showing estimates what Fed policymakers see the central bank's policy rate believe should be in the future.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England is set to hike again with UK annual inflation stubbornly high at 6.8 percent.
Wall Street indices were mixed in early trading on Monday while European stock markets were down in afternoon deals.
Elsewhere, oil prices extended gains as key producers Russia and Saudi Arabia limit output.
Comments by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman will be closely watched when he addresses a conference on crude policy later Monday.
Observers say that, with output unlikely to pick up any time soon, prices could break back above $100 soon.
On the corporate front, shares in troubled developer China Evergrande tanked more than 25 percent at one point after news of the arrest of an unknown number of staff in China.
It bounced back through the day to end only slightly lower.
Officers in the southern city of Shenzhen on Saturday said several employees at financial subsidiary Evergrande Wealth Management had been held but did not explain why.
- Key figures around 1330 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 34,641.44 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,671.06
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.8 percent at 15,761.17
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.3 percent at 7,285.84
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.0 percent at 4,250.77
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 17,930.55 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,125.93 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0670 from $1.0664 on Friday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2392 from $1.2385
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.69 yen from 147.84 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.10 pence from 86.08 pence
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.8 percent at $94.68 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $91.84 per barrel
burs-rl/lth
L.Giordano--LDdC
