- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- After long fight for glory, Nadal leaves with a legacy of memories
- Home hopes Zheng and Wang through to last-eight in Wuhan Open
- UN peacekeepers say Israel fired on Lebanon HQ, injuring 2
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Alcaraz out as top players pay tribute to Nadal at Shanghai Masters
- Racing's Farrell 'not thinking' about British and Irish Lions
- Alcaraz, Sinner pay tribute to 'unbelievable' Nadal at Shanghai Masters
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- After K-pop, K-novels? South Korean Nobel win sparks joy, hope at home
- After Nadal exit, Djokovic left to rage against dying of the light
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Triple centurion Brook happy to break Dad's club record
- Zelensky touts 'victory plan' against Russia in Macron talks
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- UN peacekeepers accuses Israel of firing on Lebanon HQ
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- Southgate taking year out from coaching
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- Zelensky meets Macron in Paris as part of European tour
- Hurricane Milton shreds Florida stadium roof
- UN probe accuses Israel of seeking to 'destroy' Gaza healthcare
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- England in sight of victory after Brook's triple hundred
- Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt
- World number 2 Alcaraz knocked out of Shanghai Masters by Machac
- Leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia meet amid regional tensions
- Klopp's Red Bull decision 'ruined life's work' say Dortmund fans
- Han Kang wins South Korea's first literature Nobel
- S. Korea's Nobel winner Han Kang a modest, thought-provoking writer
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- The almost impossible job: Beating Rafael Nadal at the French Open
- New French government faces key test with budget plan
- Rescuers say Israeli strike on Gaza school kills 28
- Italy's ex-world champion gymnast Ferrari announces retirement
- Zelensky talks 'victory plan' in meeting with Starmer, Rutte
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Federer lauds retiring Nadal's 'incredible achievements'
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Australia beat China 3-1 to resurrect World Cup campaign
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- Nadal defied injury woes in record-breaking career
- Nadal v Djokovic, French Open, 2006: Chapter One in epic rivalry
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- Pakistan at 23-1 after Brook triple hundred takes England to 823-7
- Zelensky meets Starmer, Rutte on whirlwind tour of Europe
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines confronts China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
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Stocks waver as investors brace for US Fed tightening
US and European stocks fluctuated Thursday after minutes from central banks showed US policymakers ready to aggressively wind back easy-money policies while their eurozone counterparts disagreed over their own way forward.
Eurozone stock markets were higher in afternoon deals but London's FTSE 100 ticked lower. Wall Street was mixed in early trading, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were lower.
Oil prices, meanwhile, pared some of the previous day's heavy losses that had been triggered by concerns about weaker demand because of economic slowdown.
Minutes showed the Fed in March opted to raise US borrowing costs rates by a quarter percentage point, mindful of "greater near-term uncertainty associated with Russia's invasion of Ukraine".
But some policymakers had favoured lifting rates even higher, by half a percentage point, to rein in decades-high inflation which is threatening to derail the economic recovery.
"The stock market, as well as the Treasury market, looks as if it is struggling to figure out the future and how it will be shaped by the Fed's hawkish-minded shift in setting monetary policy," Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said.
But the analyst added that the stock market "intuitively knows the near future is going to be a future with lower growth".
- Inflation fight -
At their own meeting last month, European Central Bank policymakers disagreed on how to respond to runaway inflation and economic uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, minutes indicated Thursday.
"A large number of members held the view that the current high level of inflation and its persistence called for immediate further steps towards monetary policy normalisation," the minutes read.
The ECB's governing council played it safe at the March meeting, agreeing to wind down monthly bond purchases at an accelerated pace in the second quarter, while keeping the end date of the stimulus scheme flexible.
An interest rate hike would follow "some time" after the end of the bond-buying scheme, it said.
But the minutes revealed that some governors wanted to go further to combat inflation, as the war in Ukraine further pushes up prices for energy, food and raw materials.
The prospect of rates rising at a quicker pace over the coming months has added to a wave of uncertainty across trading floors.
Central banks across the world are under fierce pressure to tackle runaway inflation, which has soared further on a Ukraine-driven spike in commodities like gas, oil and wheat.
March was the first Fed hike since it slashed US rates to zero when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out two years ago.
While current US data points to a healthy economy, commentators warn of possible hard times ahead.
- Key figures around 1330 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,574.45 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 14,207.16
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 6,516.46
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 3,838.24
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 34,368.29
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.7 percent at 26,888.57 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 21,808.98 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 3,236.70 (close)
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.0 percent at $102.11 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.2 percent at $97.44 per barrel
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0934 from $1.0896 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3082 from $1.3069
Euro/pound: UP at 83.57 pence from 83.37 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 123.90 yen from 123.80 yen
burs-raz/lth
F.Dubois--AMWN