After getting off to a strong start Wednesday, European markets are falling as investors wait to hear what steps the U.S. Federal Reserve will take to ensure a post-pandemic recovery.
London’s FTSE index is down 0.5%, the CAC-40 in Paris is 0.8% lower, and the DAX index in Frankfurt is down one percent.
Asian markets were mixed Wednesday, with Tokyo’s Nikkei index gaining 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was essentially unchanged, while Shanghai’s composite index was down 0.4%. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX was trading flat, the Sensex in Mumbai gained 0.8%, Taiwan’s TSEC was 0.7% higher, and the KOSPI in Seoul was up 0.3%.
In oil trading, U.S crude is selling at $37.90 per barrel, down 2.6%, while Brent crude is going for $40.27 per barrel, down 2.2%.
The Dow Jones and the S&P 500 are trending down in futures trading, while the NASDAQ is trending higher hours before the opening bell on Wall Street.