Stock Markets Waver After Tokyo Record

Global stock markets wavered on Monday even as Tokyo closed at an all-time high, while oil prices retreated despite a decision by major crude producers to extend output cuts.

Asian markets mostly rose Monday following US gains and ahead of a Chinese legislative session where Beijing's annual growth target and other key policies will be announced AFP News

Global stock markets wavered on Monday even as Tokyo closed at an all-time high, while oil prices retreated despite a decision by major crude producers to extend output cuts.

Wall Street stocks finished lower, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreating from records.

Analysts attributed the pullback to a wait-and-see attitude to a heavy news week that includes US jobs data, congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, President Joe Biden's State of the Union address and a European Central Bank decision.

In Monday's action, investors "were sort of looking ahead... and recognizing that there could be some potential market movers," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Investors moved "gingerly," but "all things considered, it's still acting quite well."

Tech behemoth Apple was notably off almost three percent after being hit with an EU fine of more than 1.8 billion euros ($1.9 billion) for violating the bloc's laws by preventing European users from accessing information on alternative, less expensive music streaming services.

In Europe, London shed 0.6 percent at the close ahead of Wednesday's unveiling of the government's pre-election budget, and Frankfurt was just a percentage point off while Paris bucked the trend with a 0.3 percent gain.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index proved the star of the show as it closed above 40,000 points for the first time.

Tokyo is enjoying a record-run higher thanks to Wall Street rallies, robust corporate earnings and optimism over artificial intelligence, analysts said.

"Japan's stock market is also being boosted by the weak yen which is making exports cheaper and more attractive to overseas buyers," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at the investment platform Trade Nation.

In New York and in Europe, investors waited for fresh signals on interest rates from the US and eurozone central banks later this week as well as a pre-election UK budget.

The European Central Bank is expected to keep interest rates unchanged again at a regular meeting on Thursday, analysts said, as official wants to ensure inflation is on a clear downward path before they cut borrowing costs.

On the commodities side, the international oil benchmark, Brent crude, rose to $83.79 before pulling back a day after Saudi Arabia, Russia and several other OPEC+ members announced extensions to production cuts first announced in 2023.

The extension to mid-2024 is part of an agreement among oil producers to increase prices following economic uncertainty.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at the trading platform XTB, saw the price of oil "anchored around $80 per barrel because there is ample oil supply, even with OPEC cuts, and demand growth is set to slow, which are factors that OPEC can't control".

But markets viewed the decision to cut output as indicative of concerns about weak demand.

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 38,989.83 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,130.95 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.4 percent at 16,207.51 (clos

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,640.33 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,956.41 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 17,716.17 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 4,912.92 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 40,109.23 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 16,595.97 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,039.31 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0859 from $1.0837 on Friday