Stock markets rose in Europe and Asia on Tuesday ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on another possible interest rate hike amid worries about global banks.
Shares rose by more than 1% in most major markets. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices rebounded.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.9% on Monday after U.S., European and Japanese central banks announced measures to ease strains on the financial system, including lending more dollars if necessary.
The collapse of two U.S. banks and the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse have heightened fears other lenders might crack under the strain of repeated rate hikes to cool economic activity and inflation that is near multi-decade highs.
Traders expect the Fed to go ahead with another rate hike Wednesday but think it might be held to 0.25 percentage points, down from the 0.5 points previously expected.
“Can the Federal Reserve really continue to hike rates in the face of a banking crisis?” Clifford Bennett of ACY Securities said in a report. “There are ongoing stresses in the banking system that will only grow with further rate hikes.”
Germany’s DAX gained 1.3% to 15,131.06 and the CAC40 in Paris jumped 1.5% to 7,115.32. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 1.2% to 7,494.39. On Wall Street, the futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.3%
In Asian trading, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6% to 3,255.65 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong advanced 1.4% to 19,258.76.
The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.4% to 2,388.35 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 surged 0.8% to 6,955.40.
New Zealand declined while Southeast Asian markets rose.
On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow industrials picked up 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4% after Swiss regulators arranged Sunday for UBS to acquire rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion.
The surge in the Fed’s benchmark lending rate to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, up from close to zero at the start of last year, caused prices of bonds and other assets on banks’ books to fall, raising concern about their financial health.
Credit Suisse’s troubles came to a head last week as its stock price tumbled to a record low. Early Tuesday, its shares were down 1.9%.
