Stocks rebound from rout as Fed faces calls to cut rates early
Most equities rallied Tuesday after the previous day's global rout fueled by U.S. recession fears that have led to calls for the Federal Reserve Board to cut interest rates before its next meeting.
Tokyo, which suffered a record loss Monday, led the gains, soaring more than 10% as traders bought beaten-down stocks caught up in Monday's very bad day.
London edged up after shedding around 2% Monday, while Paris and Frankfurt were also higher.
U.S. futures were pointing higher, according to Bloomberg, with the Dow Jones Industrials and Nasdaq up more than 100 points and the S&P 500 up almost 30.
But analysts warned there would likely be more volatility to come.
The sell-off followed data Friday showing way fewer U.S. jobs than expected were created last month, while another report pointed to continuing weakness in the manufacturing sector.
That led to warnings the Fed had kept rates at more than two-decade highs for too long and was risking causing a recession.
Some analysts pointed to the "Sahm Rule" that says an economy is in the early stages of recession if the three-month moving average of unemployment is 0.5 percentage points above its low over the previous 12 months. That was triggered by Friday's data.
Commentators also said a stronger yen had led investors to unwind their "carry trades" in which they borrowed in the cheap Japanese currency to invest in higher-yielding assets, such as equities.
While Wall Street's three main indexes suffered another day of pain — with the Nasdaq down more than 3% — a forecast-beating read on the key U.S. services sector provided some solace.
Tokyo's Nikkei, which tanked more than 12% Monday and suffered a record points loss, jumped 10.2% Tuesday.
Toyota was up more than 12%, Sony piled on more than 9% and chip giant Tokyo Electron added 16.6%.
"This is a sweeping, across-the-board gain," said analysts at Nomura, adding that investors would also pay close attention to the foreign exchange market.
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a scheduled news conference Tuesday that, "The stock market has been moving again today, and I think it is important to judge this situation calmly."
"We will continue to monitor the situation with a sense of urgency and to carry out economic and fiscal management in close cooperation with the Bank of Japan."
Markets in Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Bangkok also rose but Hong Kong gave up early gains to finish in the red.
Singapore and Wellington also suffered more selling, while Manila was flat.