European stocks mixed.
European stock markets traded in a lackluster fashion Thursday, with investors wary ahead of the release of key US inflation data.
At 03:05 ET (07:05 GMT), the DAX index in Germany traded 0.1% lower, the CAC 40 in France fell 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 in the U.K. climbed 0.2%.
European markets look to US inflation, China
European traders have traded in a cautious manner Thursday ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data later in the day, as this report could influence Fed rate cut expectations.
Last week’s hot payrolls number saw traders scale back expectations of more outsized interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, and signs of inflation remaining sticky could hit these rate cut expectations further.
There was some positive news from Asia for the market to digest, after the People’s Bank of China announced some 500 billion yuan in liquidity support for capital markets.
Oil prices rise on US storm.
Oil prices rose on Thursday underpinned by a spike in fuel demand as a major storm barreled into Florida and concerns about potential supply disruptions in the Middle East amid heightened tensions between Israel and major oil producer Iran.
Brent crude futures rose 63 cents, or 0.8%, to $77.21 a barrel, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 63 cents, or 0.9%, at $73.87 a barrel at 0423 GMT.
The world’s largest oil producer and consumer has been hit by a second major storm, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Florida’s west coast, spawning tornadoes and threatening surges of seawater.
The storm has already driven up demand for gasoline in the state, with about a quarter of fuel stations selling out of supplies, which has helped support crude prices.
Further underpinning prices, investors remained wary of escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant promising an Israeli strike against Iran would be “lethal, precise and surprising”.
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s plans concerning Iran in a 30-minute call on Wednesday that the White House described as “direct and very productive”.
Japanese stocks see biggest weekly foreign inflow.
Foreign investors increased their purchases of Japanese stocks in the week ended Oct. 5, as the yen weakened following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s dovish remarks, boosting appetite for local exporters.
Foreigners acquired Japanese stocks worth 919.3 billion yen ($6.16 billion) on a net basis during the week, according to Finance Ministry data, in their largest weekly net purchase since April 13.
The yen fell about 4.4% against the dollar last week, the most since December 2009, on easing worries about rate hikes after Ishiba said Japan is not in an environment for an additional rate increase.
Foreigners have divested approximately 5.42 trillion yen worth of Japanese stocks so far in the second half of this year, after about 6 trillion yen of net purchases in the first half.
Exchange data showed that foreigners pumped about 395.55 billion yen into Japanese cash equities, but remained net sellers of derivative contracts for a third successive week, with about 604.4 billion yen in net sales.
In the Japanese bond market, foreigners snapped up a net 1.38 trillion yen worth of long-term securities, their largest weekly net purchase since Sept. 14. They also poured about 50.3 billion into short-term instruments.
Japanese investors bought 696.7 billion yen worth of foreign bonds after 55.8 billion yen of net selling in the prior week. They, however, sold 138.7 billion yen worth of short-term debt securities.
Japanese investors, meanwhile, acquired 257.8 billion yen worth of foreign equities, their largest weekly net purchase in four weeks.
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