TOKYO – Global shares were mostly higher Friday after Wall Street benchmarks fell on worries that the US Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates.
European shares were mixed in early trading as official data showed consumer prices in European Union countries using the euro currency eased but still rose a painful 9.2% in December. The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said it was the slowest increase since August.
France’s CAC 40 edged up nearly 0.1% to 6,766.79 in early trading and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,647.10.
Germany´s DAX lost 0.2% to 14,401.92 after official figures showed factory orders dropped 5.3% in November compared with the previous month, on a sharp drop in foreign demand.
New orders, an important indicator for Europe´s biggest economy, fell for the third time in four months following a 0.6% uptick in October.
Hot readings on the US jobs market Thursday got traders thinking the Fed will need to keep inflicting pain on the economy to fight surging prices.
Inflation has been easing from a peak of 9.1% in June to 7.1% in November and investors have been hoping for signs that could prompt the Fed to ease up on applying the brakes to the economy with high interest rates. Those hopes have been dashed so far.
The strong labor market reports set the stage for the release on Friday of the Labor Department´s snapshot of hiring in December.
