London (AFP) - European and US stock markets advanced and the dollar dropped Wednesday with all eyes on the Federal Reserve's latest decision on US interest rates.
Recession fears linger as central banks worldwide hike borrowing costs to fight soaring inflation.
Against this background, triggering concerns of slowing demand for energy, the US benchmark oil contract WTI traded under $70 per barrel Wednesday for the first time since OPEC+ cut output a month ago in a bid to bolster prices.
"Caution is set to take centre stage ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision later (Wednesday), as investors mull what's ahead for the mighty US economy," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown.
The European Central Bank announces its rate decision Thursday.
Ahead of the announcements, data Wednesday showed unemployment in the eurozone hit a record low of 6.5 percent in March.
Interest rate worries had the opposite effect Tuesday on Wall Street, conspiring with falling confidence in regional banks to fuel losses that bled over into Asia on Wednesday.
The rapid hike in interest rates is blamed in part for the collapse of SVB bank, the first of three regional banks to collapse last month.
Analysts tip the Fed to hike rates by another quarter percentage point on Wednesday before pausing, particularly as the banking concerns are having a similar impact in slowing lending.
"We've now reached a stage in which every rate hike could have unwanted and unintended consequences," said market analyst Craig Erlam at OANDA trading platform.
Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare said that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will have a difficult task at his post-meeting press conference "trying to temper concerns about financial stability risk while ensuring it doesn't sound as if it is going soft on fighting inflation, which is still well above the Fed's 2.0 percent target, yet not pre-committing to further rate hikes."
Also weighing on investor sentiment were fears that Democrats and Republicans could fail to reach a deal on raising the US debt ceiling, triggering a default by the world's largest economy as early as June 1.
"It is a key event risk in the next few weeks and possibly a month or two," BNY Mellon Investment Management's Aninda Mitra told Bloomberg Television, adding that the impasse "feeds into our overall defensiveness".
Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said that even if a crisis were averted, it may create a drag on markets.
"As we have seen in the past, a resolution to the debt limit is likely to occur," he noted.
"The problem for risk markets is a negotiated deal may include a pullback in government spending that could negatively impact US growth."
Innes added that "downward price pressure could persist in oil markets until it becomes clear that a significant recession will be avoided and growth in global oil demand won't be stunted".
Key figures around 1330 GMT
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 33,725.10 points
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,793.11
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 15,820.15
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 7,408.41
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 4,311.59
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,699.16
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for holiday
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for holiday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1040 from $1.1005 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2507 from $1.2470
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 135.32 yen from 136.55 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 88.24 pence from 88.23 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.9 percent at $69.55 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 2.8 percent at $73.22 per barrel
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