The Albany Gazette - Global stocks mostly rise following mixed economic data

Wall Street stocks opened sharply lower after government data showed the US economy shrank by an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the first quarter, amplifying worries about a recession.

But US equity markets moved gradually higher throughout the day, rising after mid-morning data showed personal spending in March topped estimates. The same report also showed benign inflation data.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 finished higher.

"The stock market initially gave back some of its recent gains today," said a summary of the session from Briefing.com. "The rebound mentality was still present, however, leading major equity indices to close well off session lows."

European stocks had broadly advanced earlier following data that showed the eurozone economy expanded more than expected in the first quarter, despite the uncertainty over tariffs.

The EU's official data agency said the 20-country single currency area recorded growth of 0.4 percent over the January-March period from the previous quarter, better-than-expected data that appears to be linked to advance purchases in the United States, before Trump's tariffs came into effect.

But shares in German auto giants Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz slumped after they reported big drops in the first-quarter net profit.

Mercedes-Benz and US-European auto giant Stellantis also suspended their annual financial guidance due to uncertainty over Trump's 25-percent tariffs on car imports.

"Most companies are pulling guidance," said Jack Ablin of Cresset Capital. "They can't navigate an economy where they don't know the rules."

In Asia, data on Wednesday showed that tit-for-tat tariffs between the United States and China began to bite in April, as Chinese manufacturing activity contracted at its fastest pace since July 2023.

That came after Chinese exports soared more than 12 percent last month as businesses rushed to get ahead of the swinging tariffs.

"Tariffs are a lose-lose proposition, and the PMI data is our first official look at how it's affecting China. Our take is that there's a clear negative shock taking place," said Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China at ING.

Hong Kong's stock market advanced, but Shanghai slipped.

Markets are looking ahead to Friday's US jobs data for April, which will be the first tangible reading of economic conditions after Trump's sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs, much of which has been suspended.

Ablin said Friday's jobs data for April will be "one of the most important jobs reports we've seen for a while" in light of uncertainty about the economy.

- Key figures at 2030 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 40,669.36 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,569.06 (close)

New York - Nasdaq DOWN 0.1 percent at 17,446.34 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 8,494.85 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,593.87 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 22,496.98 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 36,045.38 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 22,119.41 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,279.03 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1342 from $1.1387 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3328 from $1.3409

Dollar/yen: UP at 143.18 yen from 142.33 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 84.97 pence from 84.92 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 3.7 percent at $58.21 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $63.12 per barrel

(A.Johnson--TAG)