Markets advanced Friday in Europe and Asia, tracking a rally on Wall Street after a group of big banks offered a lifeline to First Republic Bank, the latest U.S. lender in the spotlight for troubles in the banking industry. Shares rose in Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong but edged lower in Mumbai. U.S. futures edged higher, while oil prices gained. The S&P 500 jumped 1.8% Thursday, erasing earlier losses following reports that First Republic Bank could get help or sell itself to another bank. Markets have gyrated this week on concerns over the toll on banks from the fastest set of interest rate hikes in decades. The turmoil flared with last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history. “The market remains cautious; traders do not want to get overexcited, especially with investors still focusing on what can go wrong instead of what could go right,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report. Germany's DAX gained 0.9% in early trading, to 15,102.37 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7% at 7,075.74. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 7,471.98. The future for the S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged. Also Read: Asian shares mostly sink on jitters after US bank failure In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8% to 19,548.26 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.7% to 3,450.55. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2% to 27,333.79 and the Kospi in Seoul was up 0.8% at 2,395.69. Shares in major Japanese banks rebounded after falling sharply at times this week. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 6,994.80. India's Sensex was 0.1% higher while Taiwan's Taiex surged 1.5%. Stocks rallied Thursday on Wall Street after 11 of the biggest banks offered help for First Republic with a combined deposit of $30 billion. Since SVB's failure, investors have been on the lookout for banks with similar traits, such as many depositors with more than the $250,000 limit that’s insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., tech startups and other highly connected people who can spread worries about a bank’s strength quickly. First Republic Bank rose 10% Thursday after slumping as much as 36% early in the day. The Federal Reserve’s fastest barrage of hikes to interest rates in decades, to drive down inflation, has shocked the banking system following years of historically easy conditions. Higher rates raise the risk of recession and hurt prices for stocks, bonds and other investments. That latter factor hurt Silicon Valley Bank, since high rates forced down the value of its bond investments. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a Senate committee on Thursday that the nation’s banking system “remains sound” and Americans “can feel confident” about their deposits. Wall Street increasingly expects this week's turmoil to push the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates next week by only a quarter of a percentage point. That would be the same sized increase as last month's, half the hike of 0.50 points that was earlier expected. The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its key rate by half a percentage point, brushing aside speculation that it may reduce the size because of all the turmoil around banks. All the stress in the banking system has raised worries about a potential recession because of how important smaller and mid-sized banks are to making loans to businesses across the country. Oil prices have slid this week on such fears. Reports on the U.S. economy are showing mixed signals. A report said fewer workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected. In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 73 cents to $69.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It picked up 74 cents on Thursday to $68.35 a barrel. Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, climbed 78 cents to $75.48 a barrel. The dollar fell to 133.26 Japanese yen from 133.76 yen. The euro rose to $1.0664 from $1.0611.

Stocks are falling on Wall Street Monday ahead of a week full of potentially market-moving events, from decisions on interest rates around the world to earnings reports from the biggest U.S. companies. The S&P 500 was 0.7% lower in midday trading, giving back some of its gains from last week when it reached its highest level since early December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 60 points, or 0.2%, at 33,917, as of 12:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower. Markets have been veering recently on worries that the economy and corporate profits may be set for a steep drop-off, along with competing hopes that cooling inflation will get the Federal Reserve to take it easier on interest rates. The central bank’s next decision on rates is coming Wednesday, and most investors expect it to announce an increase of just 0.25 percentage points. That would be the smallest increase since March, following a spate of hikes of 0.75 points and then a 0.50-point increase, and it would mean less added pressure on the economy. Higher rates combat inflation by intentionally slowing the economy, while also dragging down on prices for investments. Inflation has been cooling since the summer amid last year's blizzard of rate hikes, but the economy has also been showing signs of concern. The big question is whether Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday afternoon will give markets what they want to hear — hints that rate hikes will end soon and rate cuts may even be possible late this year — or stick to the Fed’s mantra that it plans to keep rates higher for longer, even if a modest recession hits. “I think that they have no intention of cutting rates this year,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, adding that the Fed waits an average of roughly nine months after its last rate hike before cutting. “They’ll reiterate that they don’t want to make the mistakes of the 1970s," he said, "but I think in the back of their minds, they’re going to say no matter which inflationary indicator you look at, they’re all heading in a stairstep downward pattern.” Read more: Wall Street braces for earnings to get hit by inflation Central banks for Europe and for the United Kingdom are also set to announce their latest increases for rates this week. Beyond interest rates, more than 100 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled this week to report how much profit they made in the last three months of 2022. Among them are tech heavyweights Apple, Amazon, and Google’s parent company. Because these companies are three of the four biggest on Wall Street by market value, their stock movements carry much more sway on the S&P 500 than others. Apple's 1.4% drop Monday, for example, was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500. The only other stock that rivals them in size, Microsoft, shook Wall Street last week when it gave forecasts for upcoming results that raised worries about a slowdown in corporate spending on tech. Its stock fell 1.8% Monday. Companies generally look to be on track to report slightly weaker profit for the end of 2022 than expected, according to a BofA Global Research report. That’s an indication that the strong January enjoyed by the S&P 500 so far is more about improving sentiment on Wall Street than about better fundamentals, strategist Savita Subramanian wrote. Strategists at Morgan Stanley led by Michael Wilson warn tougher times may be ahead. “The reality is that earnings are proving to be even worse than feared based on the data, especially as it relates to margins,” they wrote in a report. “Secondly, investors seem to have forgotten the cardinal rule of ‘Don’t Fight the Fed’. Perhaps this week will serve as a reminder.” Later this week, the U.S. government will also give its latest monthly update on the job market. Hiring has remained remarkably resilient across the broad economy, even as housing and other corners weaken sharply under the weight of all the Fed’s rate hikes from last year. Some big tech companies have announced high-profile layoffs after acknowledging they misread their boom coming out of the pandemic. But job cuts may be starting to spread to other areas of the economy. Hasbro and 3M last week announced layoffs. All told, economists expect Friday’s report to show that U.S. employers added 187,500 more jobs than they cut during January. That would be a slowdown from December’s hiring of 223,000. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.54% from 3.51% late Friday. The two-year yield, which tends to move more on expectations of Fed actions, rose to 4.29% from 4.20%.

Wall Street expects companies to face a reckoning with the realities of hot inflation, a slowing economy and rising interest rates in the latest round of earnings results. Analysts are forecasting an earnings contraction of about 3.5% for the fourth quarter, according to FactSet. That estimate, as of the end of last year, is an about-face from forecasts back in September of 3.5% growth and a sharp reversal from 8.5% growth forecasts in June. The dismal forecast for the fourth quarter follows is part of a trend of shrinking earnings growth throughout 2022 as inflation tightened its grip on consumers. Spending remained strong in many retail areas and companies raised prices on everything from food to clothing to offset the impact of higher raw material costs and inflation in general. Many companies went further than just maintaining profits and increased their profit margins. Corporate profits, though, aren’t likely going to continue bucking an economy that showed clear signs of damage during the fourth quarter, particularly with consumers increasingly cutting back on spending. Many analysts have been forecasting that the economy will slip into some level of recession in 2023 and company profits are starting to reflect that. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive fight against inflation carries the risk of slowing the economy too much. Read more: Wall Street points lower after two days of gains Morgan Stanley, in a December report, warned investors to brace for a rough round of corporate earnings in the coming month and into the rest of 2023. “The fixation on inflation and the Fed continues, but markets appear to have moved past it and onto the real concern— earnings growth/recession,” the report said. “Rates and inflation may have peaked but we see that as a warning sign for profitability, a reality we believe is still underappreciated but can no longer be ignored.” Analysts expect communications companies and technology firms to be among the biggest losers during the fourth quarter. Lower demand has been cutting into technology product sales and that has in turn led to warnings from chipmakers and other companies. Computer maker HP and chipmaker Micron have both announced job cuts as a part of their plans to deal with weaker demand. Analysts are forecasting a slight earnings contraction for both companies. The weakening economy has cut into advertising budgets, which have raised concerns for companies including Facebook and Google. Retailers and other companies that rely on discretionary spending are also expected to get hit hard in the fourth quarter. Read more: Asian shares decline after retreats on Wall Street, Europe Analyst expect energy companies to keep powering past other sectors as the big earnings winners during the fourth quarter. The sector has outperformed all others in 2022 amid higher oil and natural gas prices.

Asian shares followed Wall Street and Europe lower on Friday, with markets jittery over the risk that the Federal Reserve and other central banks may end up bringing on recessions to get inflation under control. Oil prices and U.S. futures edged higher. China’s move to relax COVID restrictions has raised hopes for an end to massive disruptions from lockdowns and other strict measures to prevent infections. But signs of sharply rising case numbers have raised uncertainty, with some alarmed over the possibility that the pandemic will continue to drag on the economy. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat, at 19,369.65 while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.3% to 3,160.67. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.7% to 27,569.56 after a survey of manufacturers showed a further contraction in output. The Kospi in Seoul edged 0.2% lower to 2,357.97, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.3% to 7,180.50. Shares in Taiwan fell 1.2% and the SET in Bangkok lost 0.2%. Mumbai dropped 1.4%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 fell 2.5% to 3,895.75, erasing its gains from early in the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 3.2% to 10,810.53 and the Dow gave back 2.2% to 33,202.22. Read more: Global trade growth turns negative after record year: UN The wave of selling came as central banks in Europe raised interest rates a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve hiked its key rate again, emphasizing that interest rates will need to go higher than previously expected in order to tame inflation. European stocks fell sharply, with Germany’s DAX dropping 3.3%. Like the Fed, central bank officials in Europe said inflation is not yet corralled and that more rate hikes are coming. “We are in for a long game,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said at a news conference. Small company stocks also fell. The Russell 2000 index slid 2.5% to close at 1,774.61. The Fed raised its short-term interest rate by half a percentage point on Wednesday, its seventh increase this year. Central banks in Europe followed along Thursday, with the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Swiss National Bank each raising their main lending rate by a half-point Thursday. Although the Fed is slowing the pace of its rate increases, the central bank signaled it expects rates to be higher over the coming few years than it had previously anticipated. That disappointed investors who hoped recent signs that inflation is easing somewhat would persuade the Fed to take some pressure off the brakes it’s applying to the U.S. economy. The federal funds rate stands at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years. Fed policymakers forecast that the central bank’s rate will reach a range of 5% to 5.25% by the end of 2023. Their forecast doesn’t call for a rate cut before 2024. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Fed moves, rose to 4.24% from 4.21% late Wednesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which influences mortgage rates, slipped to 3.45% from 3.48%. The three-month Treasury yield slipped to 4.31%, but remains above that of the 10-year Treasury. That’s known as an inversion and considered a strong warning that the economy could be headed for a recession. Read more: Remittance fell in Sep due to exchange rate volatility: Bangladesh Bank The central bank has been fighting to lower inflation at the same time that pockets of the economy, including employment and consumer spending, remain strong. That has made it more difficult to rein in high prices on everything from food to clothing. On Thursday, the government reported that the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, a sign that the labor market remains strong. Meanwhile, another report showed that retail sales fell in November. That pullback followed a sharp rise in spending in October. In other trading Friday, benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 38 cents to $76.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.17 on Thursday to $76.11 per barrel. Brent crude, the pricing basis for international trading, added 49 cents to $81.70 per barrel. The dollar fell to 137.25 Japanese yen from 137.81 yen late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.0651 from $1.0627.  

Stocks were mixed in morning trading on Wall Street Thursday as investors continued to review the latest updates on the economy and corporate earnings. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% as of 10:16 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52 points, or 0.2%, to 32,760 and the Nasdaq rose 0.1%. Oil prices edged lower and weighed on energy stocks. Exxon Mobil fell 1.8%. A mix of retailers and industrial companies made solid gains. Best Buy rose 1.9% and Deere rose 1.6%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.69% from 2.74% late Wednesday. Read: Asian stocks higher as US-China tensions rise Stocks have meandered week, leaving major indexes mostly higher. August’s gain follows a standout July that was the S&P 500′s best month since late 2020. But markets remain volatile as investors try to determine the economy’s path ahead amid the highest inflation in four decades and efforts from central banks to fight higher prices. Earnings remain in focus on Wall Street as investors look for more clues on how inflation is impacting various industries. Twinkie maker Hostess fell 5% after giving investors a disappointing profit forecast for the year. Bleach and consumer products maker Clorox fell 4.2% after also announcing a weak earnings forecast.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday following a broad rally on Wall Street, but Hong Kong’s benchmark sank more than 2%. Investors appear to have grown more convinced that the Federal Reserve may temper its aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at taming inflation after the Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy contracted at a 0.9% annual pace in the last quarter. That followed a 1.6% year-on-year drop in the first quarter. Investors were cautiously eyeing regional tensions over China’s stance on Taiwan after President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Thursday. China left no doubt it blames the U.S. for a deteriorating relationship, but the White House said call’s aim was to “responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align.” Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 2.3% to 20,148.90 and the Shanghai Composite index declined 0.7% to 3,258.86 after China’s leaders acknowledged the struggling economy won’t hit its official 5.5% growth target this year. The announcement after a planning meeting of the ruling Communist Party said Thursday that Beijing will try to prop up sagging consumer demand but will stick to strict anti-COVID-19 tactics that have disrupted manufacturing and trade. It underscores the high cost Xi’s government is willing to incur to stop the virus in a politically sensitive year when he is widely expected to try to extend his term in power. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% to 27,750.17, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8% to 6,947.30. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.4% to 2,446.22. Read: Japan shares rise after election, rest of region declines Japanese government data showed factory output in June jumped 8.9% from the previous month, marking the first rise in three months. The recent easing of pandemic lockdowns in China has helped boost Japanese production. “On the economic data front, easing China’s restrictions also drove a stronger-than-expected June output for Japan, with China’s reopening potentially having a positive knock-on impact across the region as well into the second half of the year,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG in Singapore. A surge in COVID-19 infections to record levels in many parts of Japan has raised concern. But Robert Carnell, regional head of research Asia-Pacific at ING believes that Japan’s second quarter GDP, or gross domestic product, will rebound marginally from the first quarter’s contraction. On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 1.2% to 4,072.43, while the Dow added 1% to close at 32,529.63. The Nasdaq gained 1.1% to 12,162.59. The Russell 2000 rose 1.3% to 1,873.03. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP are an informal, though not definitive, indicator of what economists call a technical recession. The GDP report signaled weakness across the economy. Consumer spending slowed as Americans bought fewer goods. Business investment fell. Inventories tumbled as businesses slowed their restocking of shelves, shedding 2 percentage points from GDP. The Federal Reserve has made slowing the U.S. economy to tame the highest inflation in 40 years its goal by raising interest rates, most recently on Wednesday. The latest GDP report, along with other recent weak economic data, could be giving some investors confidence that the central bank will be able to ease up on the size of any further rate hikes. In a research note Thursday, Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse Securities, said “Whether or not we are in a recession will be debated by academics in the months ahead. However, today’s report unequivocally reflects a substantial weakening in economic activity, and raises the likelihood of a dovish pivot by the Fed.” The central bank raised its key short-term interest rate by 0.75 percentage points on Wednesday, lifting it to the highest level since 2018. The move sparked a broad market rally led by technology stocks that helped give the Nasdaq its biggest gain in over two years. The major indexes are now all on pace for a weekly gain, extending Wall Street’s strong July rally. In a busy week of corporate earnings reports investors have focused on what companies are saying about inflation and the impact rising interest rates are having on their business and customers. Technology stocks and retailers, restaurant chains and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending helped lift the S&P 500 Thursday. Microsoft rose 2.9%, Target gained 3.1% and McDonald’s added 1.8% higher.

Major U.S. markets slipped before the opening bell Wednesday as broad concerns about interest rates, inflation and the war in Ukraine continue to weigh on investors. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials ticked down 0.4% and gave up 0.3% on the S&P 500. Most Asian markets finished in positive territory, mimicking U.S. gains Tuesday, while shares in Europe were in decline at midday. “Equities are drifting lower as the broader narrative remains unchanged, with peak inflation optimism meeting increasingly hawkish pivots from central banks,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. Britain’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX both slipped 0.6%, while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.7%. U.S. stocks gained for the second straight day Tuesday, even as the World Bank sharply cut its forecast for economic growth this year, highlighting Russia’s war against Ukraine and the possibility of food shortages and the potential return of “stagflation,” a toxic mix of high inflation and sluggish growth unseen for more than four decades. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, testifying before the the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, said she expects inflation to remain elevated and bringing that down is a top priority. More data on recent price swings arrives Friday when the U.S. reports its consumer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. Also Read: Asian stock markets higher after Wall St sinks further The economy’s fragility has been atop Wall Street’s mind this year amid worries about interest-rate hikes coming from the Federal Reserve. The central bank is moving aggressively to stamp out the worst inflation in decades, but it risks choking off the economy if it moves too far or too quickly. The Fed is widely expected to raise its key short-term interest rate by half a percentage point at its meeting next week. That would be the second straight increase of double the usual amount, and investors expect a third in July. Treasury yields have largely climbed through this year with expectations for a more aggressive Fed. They moderated a bit on Tuesday, though. The yield on the 10-year Treasury held just above 3% at 3.01% early Wednesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, inched up to 2.75% from 2.73%. The next big update on inflation arrives Friday, when the U.S. government releases its latest reading on the consumer price index. In Asian trading, Hong Kong shares surged 2.2% to 22,014.59 on heavy buying of shares in Chinese technology companies after Beijing approved a new batch of video games. That was seen as a sign the business outlook for tech companies is improving after a prolonged regulatory crackdown. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 28,234.29 after Japan reported its economy contracted at a lower pace than earlier reported in the January-March quarter, shrinking 0.5% instead of 1%. The latest data showed consumer spending was not as weak as earlier thought. In India, the Sensex lost 0.4% to 54,905.16 after the Reserve Bank of India raised its key interest rate by 0.5 basis points to 4.9%. The Kospi in South Korea was little changed at 2,626.15. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.4% to 7,121.10. The Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses, gaining 0.7% to 3,263.79. In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil added $1.12 to $120.53 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the standard for international trading, picked up $1.04 to $121.61 per barrel. The U.S. dollar traded at 134.03 Japanese yen, up from 132.61 yen. The euro ticked up to $1.0736 from $1.0705. END/AP/UNB 

Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday after a bond sell-off on Wall Street fueled anxiety about a possible U.S. economic slowdown and Australia raised interest rates. London, Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. Frankfurt opened higher and Tokyo gained. The yen, trading at two-decade lows, fell further to almost 133 to the dollar. Wall Street futures were lower after the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.3% on Monday and the market price of a 10-year Treasury bond fell. That increased its yield, or the difference between the day’s price and the payout at maturity. The difference between short- and long-term Treasury yields is narrowing, which is “making me a little nervous,” because it suggests investors think a U.S. recession is more likely, said Jeffrey Halley of Oanda in a report. “I don’t think the U.S. is at stagflation yet,” or a period with high inflation and low growth, “but if oil stays above $120.00 a barrel, it might soon be,” Halley said. Also Read: Asian stock markets higher after Wall St sinks further In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.2% to 7,595.92 while Frankfurt’s DAX gained 1.3% to 14,653.82. The CAC in Paris added 1% to 6,548.78. Markets are swinging between gains and losses as investors weigh evidence about whether the Federal Reserve;’s interest rate hikes can cool inflation that is running at a four-decade high without tipping the U.S. economy into recession. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 future was off 0.6% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%. On Monday, the Dow edged up less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.4% to 12,061.37. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, or the difference between the market price and the payout if held to maturity, jumped back above 3% to 3.04%, up from 2.95% late Friday. The Treasury yield is moving toward its levels from early and mid-May. Then, it reached its highest point since 2018 amid expectations for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively. Bond buyers usually want a higher payout in exchange for tying up their money for longer periods. A flattening of the yield curve, or the long-term payout falling to match short-term bonds, is seen as an indicator of a possible recession because it shows investors expect economic conditions to be worse than they are now. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost less than 0.1% to 3,234.77 after Chinese authorities further eased anti-virus restrictions that shut down businesses in Shanghai and other major cities. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 0.1% to 27,943.95 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.8% to 21,481.75. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 sank 1.6% to 7,091.50 after the Australian central bank raised a key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, its biggest margin in 22 years, to cool inflation that is at a two-decade high. The Kospi in Seoul tumbled 1.6% to 2,628.88 and India’s Sensex fell 1.2% to 54,992.34. New Zealand and Singapore declined while Jakarta advanced. In currency markets, the yen fell to 132.91 to the dollar from Monday’s 132.01. The yen has weakened because Japanese interest rates have stayed near record lows while U.S. and European rates rise. That helps Japanese exporters making their goods cheaper abroad but pushes up prices of imports for consumers and manufacturers.

Asian stock markets gained Wednesday after Wall Street sank on weak U.S. housing sales and a profit warning by a prominent social media brand. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced while Tokyo declined. Oil prices rose more than $1 per barrel to stay above $110. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.8% after the profit warning Tuesday by Snapchat’s parent company. Spooked investors dumped social media stocks. Construction stocks fell after U.S. home sales plunged in April. “The overall mood in equity markets remains largely downbeat,” Jun Rong Yeap of IG said in a report. The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8% to 3,094.88 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed less than 0.1% to 26,729.70. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.5% to 20,216.79. The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.8% to 2,626.90 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.7% to 7,177.80. India’s Sensex opened up less than 0.1% at 54,099.64. New Zealand, Singapore and Jakarta declined while Bangkok advanced. Also Read: Stock markets continue to fall on the third day Tuesday Investors are on edge about the impact of interest rate hikes in the United States and other Western economies to cool surging inflation, as well as Russia’s war on Ukraine and a Chinese economic slowdown. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve is due to give insight into its decision-making by releasing minutes of its latest policy meeting. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 on Tuesday fell to 3,941.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 31,928.62. The S&P is down 18% from its Jan. 3 high, putting it on the brink of a bear market, or a 20% decline from the previous top. The Nasdaq composite, dominated by tech stocks, slide 2.3% to 11,264.45 after the social media selloff. Snap plummeted 43.1%, its biggest single-day drop ever. Facebook parent Meta slumped 7.6%. Google’s parent fell 5.1%. Retailers and companies that rely on direct consumer spending declined. Amazon slid 3.2% and Target fell 2.6%. The pullback undercut the previous day’s broad rally. Homebuilders slumped following a government report showing that April sales of newly built homes plunged 26.9% from a year earlier. KB Home fell 2.7%. Cruise lines and other travel-related companies took heavy losses. Carnival slid 10.3% and Norwegian Cruise Line fell 12%. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.35 to $111.12 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 52 cents on Tuesday to $109.77. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced $1.32 to $112.01 per barrel in London. It rose 14 cents the previous session to $113.56. The dollar gained to 126.99 yen from Tuesday’s 126.82 yen. The euro rose to $1.0709 from $1.0693.    

Asian shares were mostly lower and oil prices fell Tuesday after another day of losses on Wall Street as anxiety over the war in Ukraine and an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates keep global financial markets on edge. Markets remain jumbled as investors try to gauge various economic impacts from the war in Ukraine, upcoming rate hikes by central banks and new virus lockdowns in China. Tokyo rose while markets in China, Australia and South Korea fell. Stocks have fallen sharply in Hong Kong recently, sinking to near six-year lows after the neighboring city of Shenzhen was ordered into a shutdown to combat China’s worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years. The Hang Seng index lost 2.4% early Tuesday to 19,068.49, while the Shanghai Composite gave up 2.1% to 3,157.14. Also read: Asian shares extend losses as oil prices push higher Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.3% to 25,385.11, while the Kospi in Seoul gave up 0.6% to 2,630.34. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.6% to 7,108.80 and shares also fell in Taiwan and Bangkok. Oil prices have tumbled, taking some pressure off the inflation sweeping the globe, with a barrel of U.S. crude falling below $100 per barrel after touching $130 last week. U.S. crude shed $4.14 to $98.87 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It tumbled $6.32 to $103.01 on Monday. Brent crude, the standard for pricing international oils, gave up $3.90 to $103.00 per barrel. Uncertainty about whether the world economy may be heading for a toxic combination of stagnating growth and persistently high inflation has cast recoveries from the pandemic in question as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused prices for oil, wheat and other commodities produced in the region to soar. That has brought sharp day-to-day and hour-to-hour reversals across markets, as expectations for worsening inflation rise and fall. “Markets appear to have been trafficking in an odd mix of hope, fear and uncertainty," Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. Also read: Oil prices jump, shares sink as Ukraine conflict deepens On Monday, negotiators from Russia and Ukraine met over video conference for a new round of talks, after the two sides expressed some optimism in the past few days. The talks ended without a breakthrough after several hours. The negotiators took “a technical pause,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak said, and planned to meet again Tuesday. Investors were already uneasy before the war began because central banks around the world are preparing to shut off the stimulus they pumped into the global economy after the pandemic struck. The wide expectation is that the Federal Reserve will raise its key short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday. It would be the first increase since 2018, and it would pull the federal funds rate off its record low of nearly zero. On Monday, the S&P 500 gave up an early gain and closed 0.7% lower, at 4,173.11, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially unchanged at 32,945.24. The Nasdaq fell 2% to 12,581.22. Small company stocks also fell. The Russell 2000 index slid 1.9% to 1,941.72. The pullback came as the yield on the 10-year Treasury touched its highest level since the summer of 2019. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 2.16% from 2.00% late Friday after earlier touching its highest level since July 2019. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for Fed policy changes, rose to 1.86% from 1.75%. The Fed faces the challenge of raising rates just quickly and high enough to bat down inflation without overdoing it and causing a recession. The war in Ukraine makes the balancing act even more difficult. It’s pushing inflation higher by raising prices for everything from nickel to natural gas. And it’s threatening to pull down on economic growth. In currency dealings, the dollar rose to 118.34 Japanese yen, its highest level in about six years, from 118.18 yen late Monday. The dollar tends to serve as a safe haven in times of crisis, and the prospect of higher interest rates enhances its allure to investors. The weaker yen is a boon to Japanese export manufacturers as it makes their products relatively cheaper and more competitive in overseas markets. Toyota Motor Corp.'s shares gained 2.5% early Tuesday, The euro rose to $1.0979 from $1.0941.