HONG KONG — European markets opened higher while Asian stocks were mostly lower on Friday, with Chinese markets declining as investors awaited a key briefing about an upcoming stimulus plan this weekend.
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX added 0.1% to 19,223.88 and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.1% at 7,551.77. In London, the FTSE 100 edged up less than 0.1% to 8,240.83.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell by 0.1%.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 closed up 0.6% at 39,605.80. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.1% to 8,214.50.
Chinese stocks fell. The Shanghai Composite lost 2.6% to 3,217.74, and the CSI 300 Index, which tracks the top 300 stocks traded in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, gave up 2.7%.
Hong Kong markets were closed Friday for a public holiday. On Tuesday, its index dropped more than 9%, its worst loss since the 2008 global financial crisis.
All market attention was on a briefing that China’s Finance Ministry has scheduled for Saturday, when it is expected to unveil long-anticipated fiscal stimulus plans.
“The consensus is for a 2 trillion yuan package—not as large as some had hoped (5 to 10 trillion yuan), but the market reaction on Monday will depend more on the timing and the specific targets for the extra spending,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Earlier this week, information about economic stimulus plans from Beijing officials disappointed the markets, as many had hoped that the new fiscal policies would follow the steps of previous announcements in late September aimed at reviving the struggling property market and boosting economic growth.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.25% on Friday, signaling a shift to an easing cycle intended to stimulate economic growth. It was the Bank of Korea’s first rate cut since 2020 and comes after a contraction in gross domestic product in the second quarter, along with an inflation rate in September that fell below the central bank’s target of 2%.
The Kospi in Seoul edged 0.1% lower to 2,596.91.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks edged back from earlier records after reports showed inflation was a touch higher last month than expected and more workers filed for unemployment benefits last week.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 5,780.05, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1% to 42,454.12 after setting an all-time high the day before. The Nasdaq composite edged down by 0.1% to 18,282.05.
Stocks had stormed to records in large part on excitement about easing interest rates, now that the Federal Reserve is cutting them as it widens its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation.
Thursday’s report showed inflation slowing to 2.4% in September from 2.5% in August, according to the consumer price index, but economists were expecting an even sharper slowdown to 2.3%. And after ignoring the swings for food, gasoline and other energy prices, underlying trends that economists say can be a better predictor for where inflation is heading were a touch hotter than expected.
At the same time, a separate report showed 258,000 U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That number is relatively low compared with history, but it was a sharper acceleration than economists expected. Hurricane Helene and a strike by workers at Boeing may have helped make the number look worse.
In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 45 cents to $75.40 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 42 cents to $78.98 per barrel.
The dollar rose to 148.75 Japanese yen from 148.51 yen. The euro cost $1.0948, up from $1.0936.