London opened higher and Shanghai advanced. Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong declined. Oil prices fell.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London rose 0.3% to 7,903.02. The DAX in Frankfurt sank 1.4% to 15,307.98 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.8% to 7,129.73. U.S. stocks have been rallying since last month on hopes the Fed might start cutting rates as early as late this year. That is despite warnings by Chair Jerome Powell that rates will stay elevated for an extended period until inflation pressures are extinguished.Wall Street raised its forecast of how high the Fed might raise rates after Powell said last week there is a “significant road ahead” to get inflation down to its 2% target.
Equities analysts have cut forecasts of first-quarter earnings for companies in the S&P 500 by 4.5% due to the impact of inflation and slowing economic activity, according to strategists at Credit Suisse.