Global stocks uneven amid growth doubts
BEIJING - Global stock markets were uneven Monday after the Fed's decision to delay a rate hike added to pessimism about global growth prospects.
In early trading, Germany's DAX was down 0.3 percent at 9,882.34 while France's CAC-40 rose 1.1 percent to 4,584.62. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 6,134.67.
Wall Street looked set for mild gains after a sell-off Friday. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index both rose 0.4 percent. On Friday, the Dow lost 1.7 percent, the S&P slumped 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite shed 1.4 percent.
Investors took the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to postpone an interest rate hike as a sign the global economy is weak. The Fed cited low inflation, weakness in the global economy and unsettled financial markets. Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen mentioned concern over China's growth slowdown.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 fell 2 percent to 5,066.20 and Seoul's Kospi lost 1.6 percent to 1,964.68. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.7 percent to 21,756.93 and India's Sensex shed 0.3 percent to 26,132.50. Benchmarks in Indonesia and the Philippines also retreated. The Shanghai Composite Exchange gained 1.9 percent to 3,156.54. Tokyo was closed for a three-day holiday.
"The Fed's inaction last week was a major factor behind the market participants' decision to sit on the sidelines for the moment," said market strategist Bernard Aw of IG in a report. "Apart from the recent Chinese stock market decline and yuan devaluation, signs of a slowdown in China have given the U.S. central bank cause to pause. The markets will now eye every piece of data coming from China, to speculate whether it will allay the Fed's concerns."
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 81 cents to $45.50 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $2.22 on Friday to close at $44.68. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 67 cents to $48.90 in London. It dropped $1.66 the previous session to $48.23.
The dollar rose to 120.31 yen from Friday's 119.99. The euro fell to $1.1286 from $1.1309.