Rising Geopolitical Tension, U.S. Trade Policy Concerns Weigh on Global Markets

By Dow Jones Newswires StaffStock markets had a muted start to Thursday, with U.S. stock futures down a touch, a narrowly mixed close in Asia and a weaker open across European markets.Elements driving risk-off sentiment included rising geopolitical tension and continuing concerns around U.S. trade policy. U.S. Treasury yields were slightly down extending Wednesday's falls after the latest monthly report on consumer prices. The dollar also continued to fall.U.S. futures for the S&P 500 were recently down 0.2% and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 0.3%, as did Nasdaq futures.Stock markets in Asia closed mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 index falling 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ending down 1.1%, whereas China's benchmark Shanghai Composite held steady and South Korea's Kospi index closed up 0.4%.In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.4% in morning trading as major bourses eased at the open. Outliers were oil stocks, boosted by gains in crude benchmarks on Wednesday due to rising geopolitical fears in the Middle East. In London, BP was up 1.7% in early trade, Shell rose 1.3% and France's TotalEnergies was up 1.9%. Norway's Equinor climbed 1.7%.Oil prices were slipping early in Europe after jumping more than 4% in the previous trading session. Brent crude was down 1.2% to $68.93 a barrel, while WTI fell 1.1% to $67.39 a barrel.The dollar was recently down to seven-week lows against a basket of currencies and against the euro, extending the previous day's drop after lower-than-forecast U.S. inflation data that increase prospects of the U.S. Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.The DXY dollar index fell to a low of 98.247, while the euro hit a high of $1.1532, according to LSEG. Bitcoin was 1.3% lower in line with weakening risk appetite.The U.S. Treasury's auction of $22 billion of 30-year bonds is in focus Thursday after the U.S. CPI data Wednesday boosted bonds. Ahead of that, the 30-year Treasury yield was last down about one basis point at 4.903%, according to Tradeweb. The 10-year Treasury yield fells 0.6 basis point to 4.408%.Gold futures were up on safe-haven demand, rising 0.6% to $3,364.60 a troy ounce, having risen as high as $3,398.40/oz earlier in the session.Write to Barcelona Editors at [email protected]