Stock market today: Global stocks higher after Wall St hits 15-month high ahead of holiday

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday after Australia’s central bank kept its key lending rate unchanged and Wall Street hit a 15-month high.

London, Shanghai, Paris and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo declined. Oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia and Russia said they are extending cuts to the amount of oil they pump to try to prop up prices..

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.1% on Monday ahead an update on U.S. employment, a factor watched by the Federal Reserve in deciding on possible additional interest rate hikes.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained less than 0.1% to 7,530.05. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.1% to 7,935.38 and the DAX in Frankfurt added 0.1% to 16,098.39.

U.S. markets were closed Tuesday for the Independence Day holiday.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index gained less than 0.1% to 3,245.34 while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 1% to 33,422.52. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 0.4% to 19,393.33.

Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 7,279.00 after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark lending rate at 4.1% in the day’s biggest market data point.

Australia’s inflation is past its peak but “still too high and will remain so for some time,” said RBA Gov. Philip Lowe in a statement. He warned “further tightening of monetary policy may be required.”

The Kospi in Seoul lost 0.4% to 2,593.31 while India’s Sensex advanced 0.6% to 65.618.63.

New Zealand and Bangkok advanced while Singapore and Jakarta declined.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite added 0.2%.

The S&P 500 is at its highest level since April 2022. The benchmark has climbed in six of the past seven weeks for a 16% gain so far this year.

Traders expect at least a brief recession following U.S. and European rate hikes to cool inflation but have been encouraged by signs U.S. hiring is strong.

U.S. manufacturing contracted in June for an eighth month, according to a monthly survey released Monday by the Institute for Supply Management.

The government report Friday on hiring and wages is one of the last big data points before the Fed’s meeting next month on interest rate policy.

Tesla Inc. was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500 upward after the market heavyweight climbed 6.9%. The company said spring deliveries surged by 83% from a year earlier. That was more than analysts expected. Tesla reports earnings on July 19.

Rivian Automotive, another electric-vehicle company, jumped 17.4% after spring deliveries topped forecasts.

Apple Inc. slipped 0.8% after becoming the first U.S. stock on Friday to finish a trading day with a total value of more than $3 trillion.

The Fed has hinted it may be nearing the end of rate hikes, which would mean less pressure on economic activity. Much of Wall Street expects a rate hike July 26.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude gained 60 cents to $70.39 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 85 cents Monday to $69.79. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced 59 cents to $75.24 per barrel in London. It retreated 76 cents the previous session to $74.65.

The dollar declined to 144.48 yen from Monday’s 144.72 yen. The euro fell to $1.0899 from $1.0913.