Global equities slip amid signs central banks remain hawkish

World stocks were a touch softer on Wednesday with sentiment caught between upbeat earnings and further signs that strong inflation will keep major central banks firmly in rate- hiking mode.

Europe’s broad Stoxx 600 index slipped 0.3percent. In London, banks such as Lloyds and NatWest tumbled on a report that Britain’s new finance minister was planning to raid bank profits.

Data meanwhile showed soaring food prices pushed British inflation back to a 40- year high at 10.1percent, piling pressure on the Bank of England ( BoE) to hike rates again. The Federal Reserve may need to push its key rate above 4.75percent if underlying inflation does not stop rising, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari said late on Tuesday.

Still, Wall Street shares were tipped to open higher with Netflix shares soaring 14percent in afterhours trade on Tuesday after the streaming giant reversed customer losses that have hammered its stock in 2022 and projected more growth ahead.

Upbeat results this week from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Johnson & Johnson have eased worries about a weak earnings season hit by rising borrowing costs and high inflation.

The S& P 500 stock index is up more than 6percent from almost two- year lows hit last week.

“What is reassuring is that in an environment which has been very difficult for equity markets over the past few weeks, is that you have [ earnings] numbers that are turning out positive,” said Francois Savary, chief investment officer at Prime Partners.