Chinese President Xi Jinping's unprecedented visit to the country's central bank was seen as a sign of his increased focus on boosting the struggling economy, as officials unveiled a huge bond issuance to ramp up infrastructure spending
Chinese President Xi Jinping's unprecedented visit to the country's central bank was seen as a sign of his increased focus on boosting the struggling economy, as officials unveiled a huge bond issuance to ramp up infrastructure spending AFP News

Global stock markets closed mixed on Wednesday as Wall Street tumbled while Europe made small gains -- and Asia rallied on China's plans to boost infrastructure spending.

Traders are also keeping an eye on conflict in the Middle East, aware that the crisis could spiral as Israel presses on with a bombing campaign of Gaza after Hamas's deadly attacks on October 7.

Asian indices "ended the session in the green on hopes that we will see the Chinese push forward with a major fiscal spending plan," said Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony.

"European markets remain in uncertain territory, with indices struggling for direction of late," he added on the eve of a eurozone interest rate decision.

Wall Street stocks closed markedly lower as investors digested mixed corporate earnings and elevated Treasury yields.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 1.4 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 2.4 percent.

Shares in tech giant Microsoft ended higher as its results beat expectations.

But Google parent Alphabet fell 9.6 percent as its Google Cloud business missed consensus revenue expectations on slowing growth, casting a pall on results that otherwise beat earnings expectations overall.

"When you have a small group of stocks that are leading the market, that have such premium valuations, it's really difficult if they don't meet expectations," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

In Europe, French payments company Worldline lost some $4 billion, more than half its market value, when its shares plunged 59 percent after it slashed full-year targets. The firm blamed deteriorating global growth, particularly in Germany.

Oil prices meanwhile steadied after earlier falls in the week.

Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, noted that "Brent and WTI have given back the bulk of the gains that followed Hamas's attack on Israel earlier this month."

This may suggest that traders are less fearful of it turning into a wider conflict that could disrupt supplies, he said.

German business sentiment improved slightly in October, a survey showed Wednesday.

But analysts warned the Middle East conflict posed new risks as Europe's top economy struggles to emerge from a downturn amid wider concern as to where the regional tensions are headed and their potential effect on crude and inflation.

In Asia, Hong Kong earlier led gains after China approved a plan to issue 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) in sovereign bonds to be distributed to local governments to support national disaster prevention and recovery.

The move will lift the fiscal deficit ratio for 2023 to about 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, the official Xinhua news agency said Tuesday, above the three percent usually considered Beijing's limit.

Chinese leaders rarely alter the budget mid-year, but it did happen in 2008 after the Sichuan earthquake and during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

Bloomberg News reported that President Xi Jinping paid his first known visit to the central bank, indicating the increased focus the government is putting on the economy.

The announcement follows a series of small, targeted measures aimed at lifting the economy, which has struggled to recover from the impact of years of zero-Covid measures.

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 33,035.93 (close)

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 1.4 percent at 4,186.77 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 2.4 percent at 12,821.22 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 7,414.34 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 14,892.18 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 6,915.07 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 4,073.35

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 31,269.92 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 17,085.33 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 2,974.11 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0572 from $1.0590 on Tuesday

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.08 yen from 149.91 yen

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2114 from $1.2160

Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.3 percent at $90.13 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.0 at $85.39 per barrel

China