Australia

Australian shares are set to edge lower following a dip on Wall Street after the US Fed raised rates on Wednesday, and the Bank of England raised rates on Thursday.

ASX futures were down 24 points at 6833 as of 7:00am on Friday, pointing to a slip at the open.

The Dow fell 0.5% to 32001, the S&P 500 declined 1.1% to 3719 and the Nasdaq slipped 1.7% to 10342, making it four losses in a row for the big stock indexes.

US stocks declined after the US Federal Reserve yesterday signalled it would keep raising rates to fight inflation, and after the Bank of England on Thursday increased rates 75 basis points, but indicated it wouldn't raise rates as high as markets expected. US weekly jobless claims remained at low levels ahead of Friday's payrolls report for October.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil slipped 1.5% to $US94.71, a barrel, gold edged down 0.2% to US$1,631.82.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds rose to 3.37% while the 10 Year rose to 3.92%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes rose to 4.7% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was up at 4.13%.

The Australian dollar hit 62.96 US cents down from the previous close of 63.48. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged down to 104.6.

Asia

Chinese stocks ended mixed with the Shanghai Composite Index closing below the psychologically important 3000 level after the National Health Commission said the country should "unwaveringly stick to its dynamic zero-Covid policy" Wednesday night. The official announcement dashed investors' hope that China's Covid restrictions would be fine tuned. Among the losers were the consumption and software sectors with index heavyweight Kweichow Moutai down 2.2% after two sessions higher and Yonyou Network Technology falling 10%. Semiconductor stocks outperformed the market with JinkoSolar rising 2.2%. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.2% to 2997.81, the Shenzhen Composite Index and the ChiNext Price Index both ended flat.

Hong Kong stocks ended the session lower, as a negative lead from Wall Street overnight weighed on sentiment in Asian markets. The Fed delivered another 75-basis-point hike and signaled plans to keep raising interest rates, though possibly in smaller increments, but also potentially to higher levels than previously anticipated. The benchmark Hang Seng Index lost 3.1% to finish 15339.49, snapping a strong two-day rally. Tech shares, which are particularly affected by higher interest rates, led the downturn. Chinese internet giants NetEase, Alibaba and Baidu all slumped more than 6%. The Hang Seng Tech Index dived 3.8%.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.1% lower at 27663.39 as falls in chemical and precision-instrument stocks offset gains in electronics and energy stocks. Among individual movers, Subaru Corp. advanced 7.0% after the auto maker upgraded FY earnings guidance. The broader market index Topix rose 0.1% to 1940.46.

Europe

European stocks fell in trade. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.93%, the German DAX fell 0.95% and the French CAC 40 lost 0.5%.

In London, the FTSE 100 Index closed Thursday up 0.6% to 7188 after swinging from red terrain in a trading day marked by BOE's decision to raise its key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points to 3% amid efforts to tame the inflation.

Grocer J Sainsbury rose 7% after reporting a first-half revenue increase and backing its full-year guidance, followed by Harbour Energy, up 4.8%. The telecomunications group BT lead the falls with a 8.9% decline after reporting lower first-half pretax profit, followed by the electronics distributor RS Group, down 7.3%, after the group warned about a slowing economic backdrop.

North America

The Dow fell 0.5% to 32001, the S&P 500 declined 1.1% to 3719 and the Nasdaq slipped 1.7% to 10342, making it four losses in a row for the big stock indexes.

US stocks declined after the US Federal Reserve yesterday signalled it would keep raising rates to fight inflation, and after the Bank of England today increased rates 75 basis points but indicates it won't raise them as high as markets expected. Weekly jobless claims remain at low levels ahead of tomorrow's payrolls report for October.

Kellogg's sinks 8.3% even as it raised its outlook and reported an increase in global sales. Ten-year Treasury yields rise to 4.123% and the WSJ Dollar Index gains 0.7%.