- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
- Japan govt admits doctoring 'untidy' cabinet photo
- Israel marks first anniversary of Hamas's October 7 attack
- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
Stocks waver, oil prices fall on recession fears
Stock markets wobbled and oil prices sank on Friday over growing fears that inflation-fighting interest rate hikes by central banks could trigger recessions.
Investors were shaken this week after the US Federal Reserve unleashed its biggest hike in borrowing costs for almost 30 years to tackle runaway consumer prices.
This was followed by the fifth straight hike by the Bank of England and the first in 15 years by the Swiss central bank, underscoring the growing global concerns about inflation.
The moves caused a global selloff on Thursday. US and European markets tried to stage a rebound on Friday, but some indices were back in the red later in the day.
On Wall Street, the Dow Industrial Average was back under 30,000 points approaching midday, but the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were in the green.
European markets seesawed, with London in the red while Frankfurt and Paris were up in late afternoon deals.
"Worries about weakening earnings growth prospects have precipitated some of this week's selling interest. Those worries have not gone away," said Patrick O'Hare, analyst at Briefing.com.
Sentiment turned sour again as US official data showed industrial production in May had risen by just 0.2 percent, much slower than April and weaker than expected.
Asian stock markets mostly closed lower Friday.
Recession fears also gripped the oil market as WTI, the US benchmark, fell by 5.5 percent to $111.12 per barrel. The international benchmark, Brent North Sea Crude, was down almost five percent at $114.23.
Energy prices have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine, driven inflation higher, which has prompted central banks to spring into action.
Investors worry that while the rate increases can help tame inflation, they can have the adverse side effect of crimping economic growth.
"There is unlikely to be sustained relief from the sinking feeling that has hit financial markets this week, as worries rise countries around the world will not avoid falling into the economic pit of recession," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
"After the initial boost of optimism that the Federal Reserve was going to get a handle on inflation... concerns mounted that the price spiral was going to be an even harder nut to crack without fresh aggressive hikes."
The Bank of Japan, however, bucked the global trend on Friday as it stood by its decision not to raise its rate, sending the yen close to the lowest level against the dollar since 1998.
Officials in Tokyo insist that low rates are still needed to nurture a struggling economy, though the BoJ did say it "was necessary to pay due attention to developments in financial and foreign exchange markets".
Stock markets have been tumbling for months as traders contemplate the end of the era of cheap cash that had sent share prices to record or multi-year highs.
Inflation worldwide stands at levels not seen for decades owing in particular to surges in energy and food prices.
- Key figures at around 1510 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 29,888.20 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,033.70
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 13,110.58
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 5,893.19
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,439.81
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,963.00 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 21,075.00 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,316.79 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0464 from $1.0549 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2199 from $1.2353
Euro/pound: UP at 85.79 pence from 85.41 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 135.30 yen from 132.21 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 4.7 percent at $114.23 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 5.5 percent at $111.12
burs-lth/jm
Nogueira--PC