World shares were mostly higher Monday ahead of the release of economic data in the US, China and Japan, and a meeting this week between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Germany's DAX rose 0.4% to 15,287.05 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.4% to 7,072.32. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.4% to 7,386.42. The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.3% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.2% lower.
Biden and Xi are due to meet on Wednesday on the sidelines of a Pacific Rim summit in California for the first face-to-face encounter in a year between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies. Both are looking to bring a greater measure of stability to a relationship that is being defined by differences over export controls, tensions over Taiwan, the wars in the Middle East and Europe, and other points of friction.
Investors also are focusing on readings of US consumer prices and retail sales due Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Japan will report its economic growth figures on Wednesday and China will give a monthly update on factory output and other indicators. On Monday, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong surged 1.4% to 17,440.73, while the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.3% to 3,046.53.
Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com reported a pickup in sales for this year's Singles' Day shopping festival as they grapple with a stop-start economic recovery in China and a brutal price war. But neither company disclosed exact revenue figures. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.1% to 32,585.11. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4% to 6,948.80. In South Korea, the Kospi was 0.2% lower at 2,403.76.
Investors also are focusing on readings of US consumer prices and retail sales due Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Japan will report its economic growth figures on Wednesday and China will give a monthly update on factory output and other indicators. On Friday, Wall Street rose sharply to add to an already strong November, which is on track to be one of the market's best months of the year. Expectations fell for an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in December, despite a report showing consumer inflation expectations on the rise.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% and the Dow gained 1.2%. The Nasdaq jumped 2%. The Federal Reserve has said it wants to keep such expectations low because they otherwise could lead to a vicious cycle that keeps inflation high.
High interest rates and bond yields hurt prices for stocks and other investments, while slowing the economy broadly and raising the pressure on the financial system in hopes of getting inflation under control. On Thursday, a jump in Treasury yields knocked stocks lower to break an eight-day winning streak for the S&P 500, one of its longest in the last two decades. That came after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dashed some of the hopes building among traders that the Fed may finally be done hiking its main interest rate.
But by late Friday, traders were betting on only a 9.1% chance that the Fed will raise its main interest rate at its next meeting in December, according to data from CME Group. That's down from 14.6% a day earlier. Oil prices fell further, extending three weeks of losses as worries over the potential impact on supplies due to the Israel-Hamas war eased and crude shipments from Russia and the United States rose.
Early Monday, a barrel of benchmark US crude for delivery in December lost 73 cents to $76.44 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose $1.43 on Friday to settle at $77.17. Brent crude, the international standard, was down 80 cents at $80.63 per barrel. On Friday it added $1.42 to $81.43 per barrel. Both still lost nearly 4% last week on worries about supplies outstripping demand.
In currency dealings, the dollar rose to 151.85 Japanese yen from 151.47 yen, hitting a one-year high. The euro edged higher at $1.0689 from $1.0681.
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