Sawt Falasteen - Stock markets mostly drop awaiting Fed policy update

Wall Street ended mostly on the front foot Monday, with a surge in tech giants helping the Nasdaq to a record high, but Asia was unable to pick up the baton Tuesday.

London slid in late morning deals as official data showing a jump in UK wages growth cemented forecasts that the Bank of England will avoid cutting interest rates this week.

Paris and Frankfurt rose, as investors looked past news that German business confidence this month hit the lowest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bitcoin traded close to a record high of almost $107,791 reached Monday on continued optimism that Trump will introduce measures to deregulate the cryptocurrency market.

Oil prices retreated, hit by concerns that China's struggling economy will impact demand for crude.

"Investors are awaiting the latest Federal Reserve decision ahead of which the retail sales release later today could provide some colour as to the current level of consumer spending around Black Friday and the traditionally crucial festive decision," noted Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.

The Fed is expected to lower borrowing costs Wednesday before a rate announcement also due out of Japan this week.

Investors are keeping tabs on Beijing after Chinese leaders' latest measures to kickstart the economy fell short of expectations, with weak retail sales data Monday reinforcing the need for more support.

The Fed is widely expected to lower rates for the third meeting in a row as it looks to guide the world's top economy to a soft landing, though its statement will be pored over for clues about next year's outlook.

- Tariffs fallout -

Investors have started paring their bets on how many times the Fed will cut over the next 12 months owing to still-sticky inflation, a strong labour market and uncertainty about Trump, who has pledged to slash taxes and impose tariffs on imports.

Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland quit Monday in a surprise move after disagreeing with Justin Trudeau over US president-elect Donald Trump's tariff threats.

The resignation of Freeland, who also stepped down as finance minister, marked the first open dissent against Prime Minister Trudeau from within his cabinet, and may threaten his hold on power.

That pushed the Canadian dollar to the lowest level against the US dollar since April 2020.

In her letter, Freeland said the country needed to take Trump's tariffs threats "extremely seriously".

Warning that it could lead to a "tariff war" with the United States, she said Ottawa must keep its "fiscal powder dry".

Trudeau flew to Florida last month to dine with Trump at the latter's Mar-a-Lago resort and try to head off the tariff threat, but nothing yet indicates the US president-elect is changing his position.

- Key figures around 1115 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 8,205.52 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,379.56

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 20,351.35

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 39,364.68 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.5 percent at 19,700.48 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.7 percent at 3,361.49 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 43,717.48 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0485 from $1.0509 Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2693 from $1.2678

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.67 yen from 154.13 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.59 pence from 82.86 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $70.10 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $73.38 per barrel

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