BEIJING — Global stocks were mixed Wednesday as the shock of the Paris terror attacks faded and an uptick in US inflation added support for a possible interest rate hike.
In early trading, France's CAC-40 lost 0.7% to 4,902.21 and Germany's DAX shed 0.5% to 10,915.27. On Tuesday, the DAX rose 2.4%, the CAC-40 jumped 2.8% and Britain's FTSE-100 added 2%.
Wall Street looked set for losses, with futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index off 0.2%. On Tuesday, the Dow edged up 0.04% while the S&P lost 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.03%.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.1% to 19,649.18 and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 1% to 3,568.47. Sydney's S&P ASX/200 advanced 0.3% to 5,133.10 and Seoul's Kospi was unchanged at 1,962.88.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.3% to 22,188.26. Malaysia, Jakarta and New Zealand advanced. Singapore also declined.
Terrorism jitters
Investors restored calm in European markets following the Paris attacks that left 129 people dead. Travel and tourism stocks suffered but markets were unexpectedly resilient. German stocks were helped by a report showing business optimism rose in November. The data didn't fully reflect the Paris attacks, though the survey's authors say they did not appear to have had a significant impact.
US inflation
The consumer price index rose 0.2% in October after falling the prior two months. That could increase the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates from historic lows as early as next month. That would be "a psychological boost that the economy is self-sustaining enough that the Fed could get off the zero interest rate policy,'' said David Chalupnik, head of equities at Nuveen Asset Management.
Analyst's take
"Markets are fading risk-aversion moves despite still elevated terror-related tensions,'' Mizuho Bank said in a report. US inflation data "suggests that price pressures are rising towards the Fed's 2% inflation goal, supporting calls for the Fed to hike rates next month,'' it said.
Investors weighed mixed results from retailers ahead of the start of the Christmas shopping season amid worries that sales will be weak. Urban Outfitters fell 3.8% after the retailer's latest quarterly sales fell short of expectations.
Wal-Mart Stores rose 3.5% after the company reported improved customer traffic and an increase in a key sales figure for the third quarter, even as a stronger dollar pressured its performance overseas. Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners due to a fall in oil prices.