Seoul Gazette - Global stocks mostly up despite another historic inflation report

A day after a report showed US annual consumer inflation in March hit the highest since December 1981, another release showed wholesale price inflation hit a record annual rate of 11.2 percent.

Meanwhile in Britain, data showed that UK prices had jumped at the fastest pace in three decades in March.

Global inflation, already rocketing on supply constraints as economies look to fully reopen following pandemic lockdowns, is rising further on fallout from the Ukraine war.

Analysts said markets had welcomed an indication that US inflation was approaching its peak, though it has raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will take more aggressive action to contain prices.

Still, Wall Street enjoyed a buoyant session, with the broad-based S&P 500 piling on 1.1 percent.

Chris Low of FHN Financial said investors want to balance their portfolios after selling off shares in anticipation of the worrisome inflation data.

"People were short going into the week, but they don't want to be short for the holiday weekend," Low said.

US markets will be closed on Friday for Good Friday.

In Europe, London and Paris ended the day barely in positive territory, while Frankfurt dipped.

The gains on Wall Street also came despite a lackluster start to the corporate earnings season, as JPMorgan Chase saw its first-quarter net profit plunge by more than 40 percent as it set $900 million aside to deal with potential losses due to the Ukraine conflict and inflation.

Shares in JPMorgan Chase fell 3.2 percent.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines surged 6.2 percent as it reported a quarterly loss of $940 million, but said healthy consumer demand was translating into strong enough pricing to offset spiking fuel costs

- Oil rises -

Oil prices climbed further in a volatile trading week.

"Having rebounded strongly yesterday, oil prices are showing little sign of softening after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that peace talks with Ukraine were a 'dead-end situation'," said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK.

Russia is a major producer of oil and gas and the war has triggered fears of supply constraints.

In currency trading, the yen hit its lowest level against the dollar in two decades, extending recent falls as the gap widens between Japan's ultra-loose monetary policy and Fed tightening.

Despite being traditionally considered a haven currency, uncertainty fueled by the war in Ukraine has not caused the yen to strengthen.

Instead, the Fed's move towards a more aggressive rate-tightening policy and the shock of rising oil prices in Japan -- a major importer of fossil fuels -- have pushed the currency lower, analysts said.

- Key figures around 2100 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 1.0 percent at 34,564.59 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 1.1 percent at 4,446.59 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 2.0 percent at 13,643.59 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,580.80 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 6,542.14 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.3 percent at 14,076.44 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,827.96 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.9 percent at 26,843.49 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 21,374.37 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,186.82 (close)

Brent North Sea crude: UP 4.0 percent at $108.78 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.6 percent at $104.25 per barrel

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0894 from $1.0828

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3109 from $1.3001

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.03 pence from 83.29 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 125.59 from 125.38 yen

burs-jmb

M. Taylor--BTZ