LONDON-Stock markets traded within fairly narrow ranges yesterday after big declines the previous day as investors awaited the latest assessment of the US economy from the US Federal Reserve. Though the Fed is expected to keep policy unchanged at the conclusion of its meeting later, investors will be interested to assess the tone of its accompanying statement in light of a recent improvement in the US economic newsflow and Europe's debt crisis. Investors are nervously awaiting the response of rival agency Standard & Poor's. Last week it warned it could downgrade most of the 17 eurozone economies, including Germany, if the euro deal failed to deliver.
Germany's DAX ended 0.2 per cent lower at 5,774.26, while France's CAC-40 fell 0.4 per cent to 3,078.72. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares, however, ended 1.2 per cent higher at 5,490.15. In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.5 per cent at 12,078 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.4 per cent to 1,242. Earlier in Asia, stocks fell following the previous day's retreats in Europe and the US. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.2 per cent to close at 8,552.81 while South Korea's Kospi gave up 1.9 per cent to 1,864.06 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 per cent to 18,447.17. On mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.9 per cent to 2,248.59, its lowest in closing since March 2009. The Shenzhen Composite Index lost three per cent to 921.32.
AP
