BANGKOK (AP) — European markets opened lower on Tuesday after a mixed session in Asia, where Tokyo’s benchmark closed at a 33-year high.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.4% to 16,654.65 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.2% to 7,433.01. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower to 7,688.41.
The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.2% to 33,763.18, climbing to its highest level since March 1990 on gains in technology companies. Telecoms and high-tech company SoftBank gained 2.7% and electronics maker Omron jumped 6.2%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.2% to 16,190.02, regaining some ground lost in recent declines. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2% to 2,893.25.
South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.3% to 2,561.24, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia jumped 0.9% to 7,520.50.
On Monday, Wall Street saw broad gains as easing Treasury yields relaxed pressure on the stock market. The rally was led by Big Tech stocks, the main driver of Wall Street’s big advance last year, when excitement around artificial-intelligence technology made just a handful responsible for most of the S&P 500’s returns. But they stumbled last week as markets broadly regressed.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.4% and is back within 0.7% of its record, regaining momentum after logging its first losing week in the last 10 in a slow start to the new year.
The Nasdaq composite shot 2.2% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged the market with a gain of 0.6%.
Boeing dragged on the Dow in its first trading after one of its jets suffered an inflight blowout over Oregon. It fell 8%. Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages and other parts for Boeing, lost 11.1%.
Stocks of oil-and-gas companies were also heavy weights after Saudi Arabia gave indications of potentially weak demand for crude, cutting prices of its oil for February delivery. Exxon Mobil fell 1.7%, and Marathon Oil lost 2.7% as a barrel of U.S. crude tumbled $3.04 to $70.77.
“Weak demand fundamentals influenced this decision in the global physical oil market. While the price cuts were widely anticipated, they turned out to be larger than analysts had forecasted,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Earnings results are trickling in, with Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase and UnitedHealth Group to be among the companies kicking off the S&P 500’s reporting season on Friday for the final three months of 2023.
Growth in corporate profits could help prop up stock prices.
The highlight of the week may be Thursday’s release of the latest inflation data for U.S. consumers. A cooldown there has ignited hope on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve will soon see enough improvement to not only halt its hikes to interest rates but to begin cutting them.
The Fed has already hiked its main interest rate to the highest level since 2001, which grinds down on the economy and hurts prices for investments, in hopes of conquering high inflation.
U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped $1.14 to $71.91 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $2.84 to $70.77 a barrel on Monday.
Brent crude oil, the international standard, surged $1.28 to $77.40 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 143.92 Japanese yen from 144.23 yen. The euro fell to $1.0945 from $1.0949.
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