Markets around the world have been shuddering as investors adjust to the bitter medicine of higher interest rates that the Federal Reserve and other central banks are increasingly doling out. Higher rates can bring down inflation, but they also risk a recession by slowing the economy and push down on prices for stocks, bonds, cryptocurrencies and other investments.
“Any lack of clarity or lack of confidence in the Federal Reserve is going to create a lot of volatility in the market,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors.
The S&P 500 remains in a bear market after it earlier this week dropped more than 20% below its record. It’s now 23.4% below its all-time high set in January and is back to where it was in late 2020.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about the timing of a recession, but the risks are clearly rising,” Horneman said.
Futures for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index were up 1.3% after being up as much as 2% as U.S. markets prepared to reopen following a three-day weekend. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.5%.
London and Frankfurt opened higher. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney gained while Shanghai declined. Oil prices climbed above $110 per barrel.
“The modest equity market recovery continues in Asia, thanks to U.S. index futures grinding higher,” Jeffrey Halley of Oanda said in a report.
In midday trading, the FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.6%, as did the DAX in Frankfurt. The CAC 40 in Paris was 1.2% higher.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 1.8% to 26,246.31 while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3% to 3,306.72. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.9% to 21,559.59.
The Kospi in Seoul was 0.7% higher at 2,408.93 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 rose 1.4% to 6,523.80.
India’s Sensex opened up 1.9% at 52,569.30. New Zealand and Southeast Asian markets gained.
Investors worry efforts by U.S. and European central banks to cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high might derail global economic growth.
Japan and China, two of the three biggest economies, have avoided joining in rate hikes. On Monday, China’s central bank left its benchmark rates unchanged. The Bank of Japan stuck to its policy of near-zero interest rates last week despite concern that is weakening the yen’s exchange rate.
On Friday, the S&P rose 0.2% but ended the week down 5.8% for its tenth drop in 11 weeks. That was its biggest weekly decline since March 2020 at the start of the global pandemic.
The Dow dipped 0.1% while the Nasdaq composite gained 1.4%.
The S&P 500 has fallen by more than 20% from its Jan. 3 peak, putting it in what traders call a bear market.
Investors are looking for clues of Fed plans for possible additional rate hikes when Chair Jerome Powell speaks before congressional committees this week.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude jumped $1.88 to $111.44 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the price standard for international oil trading, gained $1.54 to $115.67 per barrel in London.
Shares in Kellogg jumped more than 7% in premarket after the maker of Frosted Flakes, Rice Krispies and Eggo said it will split into three companies focused on cereals, snacks and plant-based foods.
The dollar rose to 136.30 yen from Monday’s 135 yen. The euro gained to $1.0554 from $1.0491.