Global stocks mixed as governments tighten virus curbs – KIRO 7 News Seattle

BEIJING – (AP) – European stocks opened lower Monday and Asian markets rose after sentiment improved in the US and China and Australia tightened antivirus controls that threaten to weigh on an economic recovery.

London and Frankfurt gave way in early trading. Shanghai and Hong Kong closed higher. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.

Wall Street futures were lower after the S&P 500 benchmark hit a new high last week after government data showed American employers created more jobs than expected in July.

Investors were encouraged by higher US corporate earnings and the increase in coronavirus vaccinations around the world. But the proliferation of the Delta variant has led some governments to reintroduce controls for business and travel.

China has canceled airline flights to halt an outbreak of outbreaks. Australia’s two most populous states have urged the public to stay home except to go to work or for a handful of other reasons.

“The right question for everyone, including financial market participants, is when will other economies go into lockdown,” said Carl B. Weinberg of High Frequency Economics in a report. “This is central bankers’ worst nightmare to come true.”

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.3% to 7,100.82 and the DAX in Frankfurt lost 0.1% to 15,743.00. The CAC 40 in Paris was little changed at 6,815.40.

On Wall Street, futures on the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 index rose 0.2% and the Dow 0.4% after the Labor Department reported that the workforce had hired 943,000 workers in July, well above projections, and wages rose. The S&P 500 closed the week 0.9%.

Economists said the report will give the Federal Reserve yet another reason to reduce bond purchases, which are pumping money into the financial system.

The Nasdaq fell 0.4% to 14,835.76.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1% to 3,494.63 after Chinese exports rose 18.9% yoy in July. The country’s world trade surplus was $ 56.6 billion.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 26,283.40. The Kospi in Seoul fell 0.3% to 3,260.42 and the S&P ASX 200 in Sydney ended little changed at 7,538.40.

India’s Sensex rose less than 0.1% to 54,310.95. New Zealand and Jakarta gave in, while Bangkok won.

China has largely cut off access to a city of 1.5 million people, canceled airlines and urged the public to avoid travel if possible after a spate of cases linked to overseas travelers infected with the Delta variant were.

Australia’s central bank governor Philip Lowe warned on Friday that the economy is likely to contract in the quarter ending September after health emergencies were declared in New South Wales, where populous Sydney is, and Victoria with Melbourne and large corporations.

In the energy markets, the benchmark US crude oil price in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $ 2.75 a barrel to $ 65.53. The contract fell 81 cents on Friday to $ 68.28. Brent crude, the price standard for international oils, fell $ 2.67 to $ 68.03 a barrel in London. In the last session it fell 59 cents to $ 70.62.

The dollar fell to 110.18 yen from 110.23 yen on Friday. The euro slipped from $ 1.1758 to $ 1.1756.

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