BEIJING — Stocks are opening slightly higher on Wall Street Tuesday led by gains in the consumer discretionary sector. Home Depot is leading the S&P 500 gainers after the hardware chain’s sales continued to surge last quarter in a hot housing market. New data also showed Americans sharply boosted their spending last month, pushing up retail sales and giving the economy a lift. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 0.3% in early trading, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Global stock markets are mixed after President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping held a summit meeting by video link.
Global stocks were mixed Tuesday after President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping held a summit meeting by video link.
Tokyo, Hong Kong and Frankfurt advanced, while Shanghai declined. London and Wall Street futures were little-changed.
Biden and Xi announced no agreements after their meeting but said their governments need to tread carefully amid tension over trade, Taiwan and other irritants.
Biden told Xi their goal should be to ensure competition “does not veer into conflict.” Xi said he was ready to “build consensus” and said the two sides need to improve communication.
In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost less than 0.1% to 7,350.82 while Frankfurt’s DAX advanced 0.2% to 16,174.84. The CAC 40 in Paris added 0.3% to 7,149.45.
The future for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index was unchanged and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.1%.
On Monday, the S&P 500 and the Dow lost less than 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite also declined less than 0.1%.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% to 3,521.79 while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 0.1% to 29,808.12. less than 0.1% to 29,783.18. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 1.3% at 25,713.78.
The Kospi in Seoul lost less than 0.1% to 2,997.21 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 7,420.40.
India’s Sensex sank 0.6% to 60,378.89. New Zealand declined while Southeast Asian markets rose.
Also Tuesday, the Commerce Department was due to report U.S. retail sales.
U.S. investors are shifting focus from the latest corporate profits to economic issues that will determine growth into 2022. That includes supply chain problems and rising inflation.
Investors will be watching for any signs inflation is crimping business operations or consumer spending. Businesses have raised prices to pass along higher costs of materials. Consumers have taken that in stride, but analysts worry they might start to pull back on spending.
Investors also are waiting to see whether Biden decides to nominate Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell for a new term to lead the U.S. central bank.
Chinese data reported Monday showed October retail sales growth weakened compared with the previous month, weakened by anti-coronavirus restrictions and consumer unease over a wave of outbreaks.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 55 cents to $81.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract advanced 9 cents Monday to $80.88. Brent crude, used as the price basis for international oils, added 73 cents to $82.77 per barrel in London. It sank 12 cents the previous session to $82.05 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 114.18 yen from Monday’s 114.09 yen. The euro declined to $1.1370 from $1.1386.
(Source and courtesy: https://newswirenews.com/)
