Sawt Falasteen - European stocks fall as impact of Ukraine war spreads

Wall Street was up, with the three major indices reporting rises of around 0.8 percent after opening, a marked change from Monday when markets were lower over worries about higher interest rates.

Over in Europe, trading for the first time since Thursday after an extended Easter weekend, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was flat Tuesday afternoon, the Paris CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and Frankfurt's DAX index was down 0.1 percent.

The International Monetary Fund sharply downgraded its 2022 global growth forecast to 3.6 percent in its latest outlook report Tuesday, 0.8 points lower than its previous estimate in January.

Energy prices are surging, debt levels are rising and shortages remain acute, the IMF noted, as multiple crises including the Ukraine war and coronavirus pandemic fuel an acceleration of inflation.

"The economic effects of the war are spreading far and wide -- like seismic waves that emanate from the epicenter of an earthquake," IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in the report.

The downgrade was sharper for the eurozone, with the economy now expected to grow by 2.8 percent instead of 3.9 percent.

Asian markets diverged as the region weighs the impact of Covid lockdowns in China, analysts at Charles Schwab investment firm said in a note.

China's economic growth accelerated in the first quarter of the year to 4.8 percent, official data showed Monday, but the government warned of "significant challenges" ahead.

With investor sentiment "extremely negative", Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com wrote, there is "some speculation that a contrarian rally effort could soon come to fruition".

He also noted there was a "lacklustre" response to some companies' earnings results including pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and aerospace group Lockheed Martin.

- Key figures around 1425 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,617.45 points

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 14,149.48

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.7 percent at 6,545.16

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,753.20

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.69 percent at 26,985.09 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.05 percent at 3,194.03 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.28 percent at 21,027.76 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 34,800.82

Dollar/yen: UP at 128.60 yen from 126.54 yen

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0799 from $1.0802

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3004 from $1.3023

Euro/pound: UP at 83.05 pence from 82.87 pence

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 4.4 percent at $108.19 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 4.6 percent at $103.23 per barrel

burs-raz/lth

N.Shalabi--SF-PST