Stock market today: Global equities mixed on concerns about weakening US economy

Weakness is emerging and should be more noticeable in the coming months, Oanda’s Edward Moya said in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London was less than 0.1% lower at 7,594.30. The CAC 40 in Paris rose less than 0.1% to 7,201.48 and the DAX in Frankfurt rose less than 0.1% to 15,975.26.

On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.2% to 3,195.34 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.2% to 19,072.42.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% to 32,506.78 after government data showed Japanese wages rose 1% year-on-year in April, but growth slowed 1.3% from previous months .

The S&P ASX 200 in Sydney lost 1.2% to 7,129.60 after Australian central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage point to 4.1% and warned that further increases could follow. That came after inflation in the January-March quarter came in stronger than expected at 6.8%.

The Indian Sensex lost 0.2% to 62,653.68. New Zealand and Jakarta advanced, while Singapore and Bangkok declined. South Korean markets were closed for a holiday.

The majority of Wall Street stocks fell Monday after a week-long rally took Wall Street to a 10-month high.

The Dow fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.1% after the Institute for Supply Management reported that the service industry index fell from 51.9 in April to 50.3 on a 100-point scale , with numbers above 50 showing activity increasing.

Apple then fell 0.8% unveiling of a long rumored headset which will place its users between the virtual and real world. It will cost $3,500 when it releases early next year.

Traders are concerned that rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and central banks in Europe and Asia to cool inflation that has been high for decades will push the global economy into recession. They hope signs of slowing activity in the US will prompt the Fed to postpone or scale back a possible rate hike at its meeting this month.

The US government will release an update on inflation ahead of next week’s Fed meeting.

Even if the Fed postpones a rate hike this month, Wall Street is betting on another hike in July after officials scrutinize more data.

High interest rates led to three high-profile bank failures in the US and one in Switzerland that shook financial markets. Production is also weakening.

Data from last week showed that U.S. employers unexpectedly accelerated hiring in May, while worker wage increases slowed. That helped propel Wall Street to the brink of a bull market, or a 20% increase in the S&P 500 from its mid-October low.

In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost $1.11 a barrel to $71.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 41 cents to $72.15 on Monday. Brent oil, the price base for international oil trade, fell $1.05 to $75.66 a barrel in London. It was up 58 cents the previous session to $76.71.

The dollar fell to 139.45 yen from 139.63 yen on Monday. The euro rose from $1.0715 to $1.0729.