Stock markets mixed before Christmas break as US inflation cools

Global stock markets traded in a tight range Friday before the Christmas break, while Asia-focused tech shares were hammered after China announced additional curbs on online gaming.

Wall Street stocks finished a choppy session mostly higher amid light trading volumes, with major indices yet again scoring weekly gains.

London’s FTSE 100 index finished virtually unchanged in a half-day session, despite fears of recession as data showed the UK economy shrank in the third quarter and flatlined in the prior three months.

Paris was also flat while Frankfurt finished 0.1 percent higher.

In the United States, government data showed the Fed’s favored measure of inflation slowed on lower energy prices.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.6 percent from a year ago in November, markedly below October’s 2.9 percent figure.

The Fed has held rates at a 22-year high following a series of hikes aimed at taming inflation. The central bank will convene a policy meeting next month.

“The key takeaway from the report is that it threads the needle for a Fed aiming to bring down inflation with higher rates, but not tank the economy in the process,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.

Equities have been on an upward trajectory in recent weeks as a string of US figures show inflation coming down and the jobs market softening, while the economy is easing but appears safe from recession.

Markets fizzed higher last week after the US central bank signaled it would at last start cutting interest rates next year, in a major dovish pivot as inflation slows in the world’s biggest economy.

In Asia, stock markets diverged after China unveiled fresh plans to restrict online gaming.

The draft restrictions published online by the government regulator say they are aimed at limiting in-game purchases and preventing obsessive gaming behavior.

The news sent tech giant Tencent plunging more than 15 percent in Hong Kong at one point while rival Netease was briefly down more than 30 percent.

XD Inc sank around 20 percent, while there were also losses for Alibaba and Meituan.

Beijing first moved against the gaming sector in 2021 as part of a sprawling crackdown on Big Tech, including a strict cap on the amount of time children could spend playing online.

The draft regulations announced Friday would introduce limits on recharging in-game wallets and abolish features meant to increase gameplay time such as rewards for daily log-ins.

Pop-ups warning users of “irrational” playing behaviour would also have to be introduced.”

The clear signal does indeed seem to be that the wide-ranging tech crackdown is still ongoing, and may even be becoming more aggressive,” Michael Brown, a market analyst at broker Pepperstone, told AFP.