Sawt Falasteen - Markets mixed on hopes Fed will take foot off pedal

Equities in Europe mostly climbed through the day, although Paris sank on news of record high eurozone inflation and slowing economic growth and US indices were a sea of red.

"Market volatility is expected to remain high throughout the week as investors have a lot to digest," said Pierre Veyret, analyst at ActivTrades.

Investors were hopeful on reports that the Fed could take its foot off the accelerator in its push to rein in decades-high inflation.

It is expected to announce a fourth successive 75 basis point hike on Wednesday, but it could hint that officials are open to dialling back the pace of increases.

The Dow Jones was trading down throughout Monday morning, after Wall Street enjoyed strong gains before the weekend thanks to a rally in tech firms after strong earnings from Apple.

The US gathering comes as other central banks recently indicated they are willing to ease up, with Canada raising rates less than expected last week.

The Bank of England is however expected to deliver another hefty rate hike on Thursday.

"Uncertainty sums up the feeling in the markets at the moment," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

"There's going to be a lot to take in this week... perhaps it's not surprising to see some jitters creeping back in."

- Better earnings than expected -

Concerns that rapidly rising borrowing costs will send economies into a recession have hammered markets globally this year.

Yet a better-than-expected earnings season has provided recent support.

More multinationals will report this week as the financial results season rolls on, including pharmaceutical giants Moderna and Pfizer, technology behemoth Sony, and car brands BMW, Toyota and Ferrari.

But investors remain on edge over red-hot inflation, as analysts warned a recession in the eurozone appeared to be on its way.

Economic growth in the bloc fell to 0.2 percent in the third quarter, as inflation hit another record high on the back of soaring energy prices, the EU's statistics agency said on Monday.

"It is a matter of how deep the recession will be and not if there will be one," Oxford Economics said in an analyst note.

Consumer prices jumped by a fresh record of 10.7 percent in October, stoked by an eye-watering 41.9 percent rise in energy costs, Eurostat said.

"Double-digit inflation and decade-high interest rates do not bode well for eurozone growth during the rest of this year and into 2023," noted economist Benjamin Trevis at think-tank CEBR.

- 'Salt to the wounds' -

Asia mainly advanced through Monday, although Hong Kong and Shanghai sank on concerns over the economic impact of Chinese Covid restrictions.

Beijing reported a contraction in factory activity as sweeping pandemic restrictions paralysed major industrial cities.

That also weighed heavily on oil because China is a major global consumer.

"Although these data points are weaker than expected, it should be no surprise given those broad-based Covid-related restrictions," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

"Negative news from the real estate sector is adding salt to the economic wounds."

- Key figures around 1640 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 32,720.04 points

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 3,617.54

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 7,094.53 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 13,253.74 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 6,266.77 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 27,587.46 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 14,687.02 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.8 percent at 2,893.48 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $0.9888 from $0.9965 on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.1491 from $1.1615

Dollar/yen: UP at 148.62 yen from 147.60 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 86.04 pence from 85.80 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.3 percent at $87.90 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $96.31 per barrel

burs-rox/raz

A.Suleiman--SF-PST