Australia

The Australian sharemarket is expected to rise today following a mixed session in the US. The economic outlook appeared highly uncertain to investors Tuesday, as they awaited key US inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting.

ASX futures had added 24 points or 0.3% as of 6:00am on Wednesday, pointing to a positive open.

US indices ended mixed on Tuesday ahead of the release of March consumer-price data due later this week.

The S&P 500 closed flat while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.

Investors remained focused on interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting, scheduled for May 2-3. After last week's strong labor market data, traders are increasingly wagering that the central bank will raise rates by another 0.25%, according to CME Group.

Consumer-price data due Wednesday will help investors assess the Fed's progress in taming inflation. Comments by central bankers in and around meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week could also give clues about how much higher the Fed might raise rates.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil rose 1.7% to $US85.63 a barrel while gold gained 0.7% to US$2,004.58.

Australian government bonds advanced, with the 2 Year yield rising to 2.88% and the 10 Year yield climbing to 3.22%. US Treasury notes remained lower, with the 2 Year yield dipping to 4.05% and the 10 Year yield falling to 3.43%.

The Australian dollar edged up to 66.50 US cents after previously closing at 66.40. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged down to 98.65.

Asia

Chinese shares ended mixed after data showed that inflation eased significantly in March, suggesting the post-Covid recovery momentum remains weak. Analysts expected Beijing to step up policy support in coming months with some predicting it may cut rates again. Consumption stocks were higher with Gree Electric Appliances Inc. of Zhuhai up 4.4% and Midea Group rising 2.0%. Property stocks followed their Hong Kong counterparts and rose for another session amid investor bullishness. China Vanke rose 2.2% and Gemdale Corp. was up 1.7%. The telecom sector, which has been one of the best performers in the Chinese market this year, retreated during recent volatile trading. China Mobile ended down 2.7% and China Telecom was off by 3.9%. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.1% to 3313.57, while the Shenzhen Composite Index was up 0.2% and the ChiNext Price Index dropped 0.2%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.8% higher at 20485.24, propped up by property stocks following weaker-than-expected March CPI data from China. Analysts had been watching the release for signs of stronger consumption following the country's reopening, IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said in a note. Property companies rose following better first-quarter sales data, with Country Garden Holdings jumping 14%, Country Garden Services adding 12% and Longfor Group rising 7.5%. Decliners included AAC Technologies, which closed 3.4% lower.

Japanese stocks ended higher, led by gains in electronics and trading house shares as worries about the impact of aggressive monetary policy tightening eased. Tokyo Electron Ltd. gained 3.7% and Terumo climbed 3.5%. Marubeni advanced 4.6% and Sumitomo Corp. added 3.2% following a report that Berkshire Hathaway increased its stakes in five major Japanese trading companies to 7.4% each. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.0% to 27923.37.

India's Sensex closed 0.5% higher at 60157.72. Investors are likely to focus on Indian corporate earnings as well as key U.S. data set to be released this week, said ICICI Direct Research analysts in a note. Kotak Mahindra Bank added 5.0%, while Tata Steel gained 2.4% and conglomerate ITC Ltd. rose 1.9%. Meanwhile, Tata Consultancy Services dropped 1.5%.

Europe

European stocks rose as investors shrugged off a downbeat economic forecast from the International Monetary Fund. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.6%, the French CAC 40 advanced 0.9% and the German DAX climbed 0.4%. Miners and steel manufacturers were the session’s biggest risers.

"European stock indices continued to rise Tuesday despite the IMF expecting global growth to slow from 3.4% in 2022 to a downwardly revised 2.8% this year," IG analyst Axel Rudolph wrote. "US equity indices traded flat to slightly negative ahead of Wednesday's US FOMC minutes and March inflation report,” he added.

The United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 closed up 0.6% as natural resources stocks rallied following the four-day Easter break. Mining shares lifted the blue-chip index thanks to higher metal prices, with Rio Tinto closing up 4.9%, followed by Antofagasta and Anglo American, up 4.8% and 4.2% respectively. Shares of oil and gas company Shell closed up 0.6% supported by firmer oil prices and after the announcement of a partnership with smaller peer Harbour Energy to develop a carbon capture project in the Humber estuary, AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould explained. Beazley shares closed down 1.6%, leading a short list of fallers.

North America

US indices ended mixed on Tuesday ahead of the release of March consumer-price data due later this week.

The S&P 500 closed flat while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%.

Investors remained focused on interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting, scheduled for May 2-3. After last week's strong labor market data, traders are increasingly wagering that the central bank will raise rates by another 0.25%, according to CME Group.

"We're in a nothing market until either the fed blinks or the market blinks," said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive of Tuttle Capital Management.

Consumer-price data due Wednesday will help investors assess the Fed's progress in taming inflation. Comments by central bankers in and around meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week could also give clues about how much higher the Fed might raise rates.

Lars Skovgaard Andersen, investment strategist at Danske Bank, said recent economic data had fueled hopes that the Fed might control inflation without causing a recession. Still, he said that many large stock investors hadn't participated in the recent rally and that weaker companies would begin to be exposed by higher rates.

Investor attention could turn back toward banking upheaval later this week when JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup kick off earnings season. Hani Redha, a portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments, said money managers will focus on what lenders say about credit conditions and deposits in the wake of outflows from some regional banks.

Financial stocks rose Wednesday as they continue to rebound from the selloff last month, when two major US lenders failed and Switzerland engineered a deal for UBS to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse.

In corporate news, Colorado-based gold miner Newmont raised its takeover bid on Monday for Australia's Newcrest Mining to $19.5 billion. Newcrest said it would open its books so that Newmont could put forth a firmer offer. Newmont shares slipped 2.3% on Tuesday.

CarMax shares jumped 9.7% after the used-auto retailer disclosed a fourth-quarter profit that was roughly twice what analysts expected. CarMax executives nonetheless warned that the company has been plagued by affordability issues, higher interest rates, tightening lending standards and low consumer confidence and are bracing for more defaults in CarMax's lending business.

Other stock market gainers included flooring maker Mohawk Industries and appliance maker Whirlpool, which added 5.7% and 3.8%, respectively, as well as fertilizer producers CF Industries and Mosaic, which each gained at least 4%.

Moderna stock lost 3.1% after the biotech company told analysts and investors at its "Vaccines Day" presentation that its first influenza vaccine candidate didn't meet the criteria for early success in a Phase 3 trial.