Global stocks up after Wall Street shakes off slump

BEIJING — Global stocks and U.S. futures rose Monday after Wall Street rebounded from a sevenweek string of declines and China eased anti-virus curbs on business activity in Shanghai and Beijing.

London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced. Oil stayed above $110 per barrel.

The future for Wall Street’s S&P 500 index was 0.9% higher after the benchmark Friday ended up 6.6% for the week after surging inflation declined. U.S. markets are closed Monday for a holiday.

“Markets rallied into the long weekend, providing a positive tone at the start of this week,” ING economists said in a report.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London gained 0.4% to 7,613.78 and the DAX in Frankfurt advanced 0.7% to 14,564.68. The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.8% to 6,565.13.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average future was up 0.7%.

On Friday, the S&P gained 2.5%, propelled by gains for tech companies.

Investors were relieved after Commerce Department data showed U.S. inf lation, which has prompted the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, decelerated to 6.3% over a year earlier in April, its first decline in 17 months.

Markets are worried about whether the Fed can control inflation that is running at a four-decade high without tipping the biggest global economy into recession.

The U.S. market has been in a slump for the past two months over fears about interest rate hikes that might slow economic activity, and the impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine and a Chinese economic slowdown.

Crude oil prices are up nearly 60% this year due to fears about disruptions in supplies from Russia, the second-biggest global exporter. Wheat prices are up about 50% and corn prices are up 30%.