Global stocks and Wall Street futures declined today, April 25, as investors awaited US earnings reports and an update on economic growth. Reactively, London and Frankfurt opened lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong declined abnd Tokyo advanced. Oil prices were little-changed.

This week, earnings reports from about 170 of the top US firms, including Microsoft and Amazon, are expected. The benchmark S&P 500 index on Wall Street increased by 0.1% on Monday as a result of Coca-Cola Co.'s better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Also this week, US data are anticipated to show that the economy is slowing down as a result of interest rate increases made to curb inflation that has been stubbornly high. Following polls that showed a decline in industrial activity, France and Germany are also expected to announce economic growth.

According to a research by Oanda's Edward Moya, tech stocks will have a "difficult environment" if the economy slows, keeping their high prices that have supported the market. Corporate profits and a political fight in Washington over raising the government's debt limit, according to him, pose "big risks" for stocks.

Early trading saw a 0.4% decline in the FTSE 100 in London to 7,880.69 and a 0.3% decline in the DAX in Frankfurt to 15,811.08. Paris' CAC 40 fell again by 0.8% to 7,517.31.

The S&P 500 future on Wall Street was down 0.5%. This was 0.4% less for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The Nasdaq composite fell by 0.3% on Monday, while the Dow gained 0.2%.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo increased by less than 0.1% to 28,620.07 while the Shanghai Composite Index in Asia fell by 0.8% to 3,264.87. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.9% to 19,578.20.

After South Korea announced unexpectedly robust economic growth in the first quarter, avoiding a technical recession, the Kospi in Seoul dropped 1.4% to 2,489.02. Korea's economic activity increased by 0.3% over the preceding three months, recovering from a 0.4% decline.

The Sensex in India increased by less than 0.1% to 60,105.07. Bangkok and Singapore said no. The markets in Australia and New Zealand were closed due to a holiday.

Analysts expect that S&P 500 corporations will announce their greatest earnings decline since the spring of 2020, when the epidemic crippled the economy. Most businesses have so far this earnings reporting season exceeded expectations.

The initial estimate of how swiftly the US economy expanded in the first three months of the year is being awaited by Wall Street. The growth rate is predicted by economists to drop from 2.6% in the last quarter of 2022 to 1.9% annually.

Because mortgages are now more expensive due to higher rates, US housing sales have stalled. Although there has been pain in the manufacturing sector and other sections of the economy, the job market has held up well.

Next week, the Federal Reserve meets. A large portion of Wall Street anticipates the US central bank to increase interest rates at least once more before taking a break. A lot of speculators are placing bets that the Fed will lower rates this year to support the economy. However, Fed representatives have reiterated that they will maintain high rates at least through the end of this year.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange's computerised trading platform, benchmark US crude fell 7 cents to USD 78.69 a barrel in the energy sector. On Monday, the contract increased 89 cents to USD 78.76. The benchmark price for international oil trade, Brent crude, increased 6 cents to USD 82.60 per barrel in London. The previous session saw a USD 1.07 increase to USD 82.73.

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