World stocks mostly fell on May 22, after UK inflation data dashed hopes that the country's central bank would quickly cut interest rates.
Meanwhile, minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting highlighted concerns about persistent price pressures in the world's largest economy.
London stocks closed lower and the pound jumped on news that the country's consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.3% in April, slower than the previous month but far exceeding analysts' expectations of 2.1%. Accordingly, the FTSE 100 index in London fell 0.6% to 8,370.33 points. The DAX 30 index in Frankfurt (Germany) lost 0.3% to 18,680.20 points and the CAC 40 index in Paris (France) fell 0.6% to 8,092.11 points. The Euro Stoxx 50 composite index also closed down 0.4% to 5,025.17 points.
“This is disappointing news and the market has quickly dismissed hopes of a June rate cut by the Bank of England (BoE) and is now betting on a September rate hike,” said David Morrison, senior analyst at financial services firm Trade Nation.
US indices were also in the red after the Fed's meeting minutes showed policymakers were disappointed with the lack of progress in bringing inflation to the 2% target. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 39,671.04 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 5,307.01 points, while the Nasdaq Composite technology index lost 0.2% to close at 16,801.54 points.
Fed officials said that weak inflation data and strong economic data in the first quarter of 2024 led them to conclude that “it will take longer than previously expected” for them to be confident that inflation is declining. Analyst Patrick O'Hare of the financial website Briefing.com said these concerns are not surprising given the Fed's comments at the last meeting. But this is just an excuse for investors to sell after a large increase in prices since the meeting. In Vietnam, at the end of the trading session on May 22, the VN-Index decreased by 10.23 points (0.8%), to 1,266.91 points. In contrast, the HNX-Index increased by 1.86 points (0.76%), to 245.15 points.
Source: Bnews
