The Albany Gazette - Stocks mixed as traders weigh inflation, China talks and debt

Investors hoping the Federal Reserve will finally take a breather from its long-running campaign of interest rate hikes have been left feeling a little more confident this week after data showed US inflation on both a consumer and wholesale level continued to ease in April.

Their hopes were given a further boost Thursday by news that jobless claims last week hit their highest since October 2021, suggesting the labour market was showing some slack.

The Fed has long said it needed to see a softening in employment as well as a drop in inflation before it could consider ending its rate hike drive and look at a potential cut in borrowing costs.

"US economic data... continued the theme of tentative signs of a softening labour market and room for optimism about the inflation outlook," said National Australia Bank's Taylor Nugent.

"Caution on one week's claims number is always well advised, but the incremental signal looks to be a more compelling trend higher."

Official data Friday meanwhile showed the UK economy had eked out growth over the first quarter, although output contracted in March as the country continues to be hit by sky-high inflation and strikes over pay.

Focus across the Atlantic was also on some positive news out of Washington that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi met in Vienna this week, as the superpowers seek to temper tensions over a number of issues, particularly Taiwan.

The eight hours of talks over Wednesday and Thursday also covered Russia's invasion of Ukraine and capped an unofficial pause in high-level contact since the United States shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon earlier in the year.

Both sides described the face-to-face as "candid, substantive and constructive".

US-listed Chinese firms performed well in New York Thursday, with tech firms also helped by a strong earnings report from ecommerce giant JD.com.

And the rally continued for the sector in Hong Kong, with JD.com up more than seven percent and rival Alibaba 2.4 percent higher.

But the gains were unable to help the city's Hang Seng Index maintain early gains, while there were also losses in Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Manila, Bangkok, Jakarta and Taipei.

Still, Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington and Mumbai were all higher.

Eyes are also on Washington, where much-anticipated debt-ceiling talks between President Joe Biden and Republican leaders were postponed until next week, with sources saying staff-level discussions were progressing.

While Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for the impasse on hiking the US borrowing limit, there is a hope a deal can be hammered out that will allow the country to pay its bills.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,757.34 points

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 15,911.84

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.8 percent at 7,443.01

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.5 percent at 4,331.84

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 29,388.30 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 19,627.24 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.1 percent at 3,272.36 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.7 percent at 33,309.84 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0908 from $1.0918 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2532 from $1.2514

Dollar/yen: UP at 134.63 yen from 134.55 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.01 pence from 87.22 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.3 percent at $75.18 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $71.15 per barrel

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)