Stocks in Hong Kong sank more than 5% for a second straight day after the neighboring city of Shenzhen was ordered into a shutdown.
That would be the first increase since 2018, pulling it off its record low of nearly zero, and likely the first in a series of rate hikes. The Fed is trying to slow the economy enough to tamp down the high inflation sweeping the country, but not so much as to trigger a recession. So the numbers are still very high and will keep the Fed on track to raise rates on Wednesday, economists said, but at least they weren’t worse than expected.
Also helping to pull down yields were the tumbling oil prices. A barrel of U.S. crude dropped 8.6% to $94.16. It had briefly topped $130 last week when worries about disruptions to supplies because of the war in Ukraine were at their height. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 8% to $98.34 per barrel.
In overseas stock markets, European indexes were down modestly. Stocks in Shanghai slumped 5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 5.7% despite the release of data showing strong increases in Chinese retail sales, industrial production and investment in January-February. It followed a decision by China’s central bank not to ease interest rates to spur economic growth.
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