Stories
World Shares Rise and Oil Prices Fall as Inflation Concerns Ease
- •World shares advanced on Monday as easing inflation worries reduced expectations of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
- •Japan’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.4 per cent, briefly climbing above 70,000 points for the first time in three months.
- •Artificial intelligence related stocks saw strong buying interest, with Tokyo Electron, SoftBank Group, and TSMC posting solid gains.
- •US crude fell 1.7 per cent to USD 89.57 a barrel and Brent crude declined 1.3 per cent amid ongoing uncertainty regarding the war with Iran.
- •Investors are awaiting upcoming US economic updates this week, including data on the services sector, unemployment, and consumer sentiment.
Key Questions Answered
World shares advanced as investors reacted to easing inflation worries. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 2.4 per cent to finish at 69,946.86, briefly climbing past 70,000 for the first time in three months. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent, France's CAC 40 lost 1.1 per cent, and Germany's DAX inched up less than 0.1 per cent.
The US government reported that employers added 29,000 more jobs last month, which was fewer than economists expected and a slowdown from August's net hiring rate of 133,000. This lower job growth helped alleviate inflation worries and led markets to believe the Federal Reserve is less likely to raise its benchmark rate.
Oil prices fell as energy trading saw benchmark US crude drop 1.7 per cent to USD 89.57 a barrel and Brent crude decline 1.3 per cent to USD 100.95 a barrel. These prices have been fluctuating due to uncertainty over how the war with Iran will impact the global oil industry.
