Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell last week reaffirmed the central bank’s determination to raise interest rates despite a slowing economy. Photograph: Haiyun Jiang/New York TimesWorld stocks tumbled again on Tuesday amid concerns about the chance of more interest rate hikes in Europe and the United States, after data showed economic growth and inflation have stayed resilient in both regions despite the policy tightening so far.
On the downside, building materials giant CRH finished the day down 1.5 per cent, while Paddy Power Betfair parent Flutter Entertainment was also weaker. Kerry Group ended the day down 1.3 per cent.Traders came back from the bank holiday break in high spirits but saw commodity firms and healthcare stocks come under heavy pressure from broad weakness in the US markets. London’s top flight ended the day down 0.88 per cent.
Elsewhere, technology business Bango saw shares rocket after snapping up the global payment business of Japanese mobile phone operator NTT Docomo. Bango finished the session 36p higher at 192p. The two-year Treasury yield climbed to a new high of 3.5 per cent, its highest since late 2007, and well above benchmark 10-year yields, which also rose, but only to 3.1 per cent.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has slumped 4.6 per cent since Fed chair Jerome Powell last week reaffirmed the central bank’s determination to raise interest rates despite a slowing economy.