Stock prices in the US and Europe fell on Tuesday as investors awaited the release of key US inflation data and followed US President Joe Biden’s talks with Republicans in Congress on raising the national debt ceiling.
Market participants await the release of US inflation data on Wednesday, which may determine the Federal Reserve’s (FRS) interest rate policy.
The fall in inflation in recent months has raised expectations that the FRS will soon pause raising interest rates and could even start lowering them by the end of the year. This view is reinforced by the banking crisis.
“US inflation data (…) will play an important role in determining the FRS’s interest rate plans going forward,” said Nigel Green, head of financial advisory firm deVere Group.
The Bank of England will announce its decision on monetary policy on Thursday. Analysts expect further interest rate hikes as inflation in the UK remains around 10%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 33,561.81 on Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 0.5% to 4,119.17, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.6% to 12,179.55 points.
London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 7,764.09 on Tuesday, Frankfurt’s DAX was unchanged at 15,955.48 and Paris’ CAC 40 fell 0.6% to 7,397.17.
WTI crude oil rose 0.8% to $73.71 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. “Brent” crude oil price on the London Stock Exchange rose by 0.6% to 77.44 dollars per barrel.
On the Dutch exchange “Title Transfer Facility” (TTF) natural gas price fell by 2.51% to 35.95 euros per megawatt hour on Tuesday.
The euro fell from $1.1004 to $1.0965 per euro on Tuesday, the British pound rose from $1.2618 to $1.2622 per pound, and the dollar against the Japanese yen rose from 135.10 to 135.22 yen per dollar. The value of the euro against the British pound fell from 87.21 to 86.84 pence per euro.
