- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
Stocks slide as US inflation surges
US stock markets slid on Thursday as data showed inflation jumping to a four-decade high, raising concerns that the Federal Reserve may move aggressively with interest rate hikes.
US consumer prices rose at an annual rate not seen since February 1982, with a 7.5 percent increase over the 12 months to January, according to government figures.
Wall Street's three major indices moved lower, although they pared their initial losses.
The "surprising acceleration" of consumer prices "boosted expectations of a more aggressive response from the Fed", said analysts at Charles Schwab investment firm.
"The initial optimism that we might see evidence that US inflation might be slowing, that had helped push US markets higher this week, and higher in the pre-market, sharply evaporated" after the data was released, said market analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
Some Fed officials on Wednesday said policymakers would make their decisions based on data coming across their desks, with a 50-basis-point hike -- as opposed to the usual 25 basis points -- not off the table.
Surging inflation and bets that the US central bank will end its pandemic-era cheap cash policies have weighed on world markets in recent months, stalling a two-year rally that saw them hit record or multi-year highs.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, a proxy for interest rates, hit two percent on Thursday for the first time since July 2019.
"The market isn't just concerned about inflation, it is also concerned about the Fed's response to inflation," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
"Raising interest rates may be appropriate monetary policy, but that doesn't mean the market as a whole will react positively," he said.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose, Frankfurt's DAX edged higher, and in Paris the CAC 40 slipped.
Europe had its share of negative news as the European Commission cut the eurozone's economic growth forecast as energy prices and supply chain problems jack up inflation.
This followed what had been a broadly positive week for global equities thanks to some healthy earnings results, further reopening of economies and signs of easing Russia-Ukraine tensions.
- Earnings boost -
There is a feeling in some quarters that investors may be getting used to the prospect of higher borrowing costs, however, while still-strong economic data and the easing of containment measures will continue to support company earnings.
French energy giant TotalEnergies rebounded from the Covid crisis with a huge 2021 profit as oil and gas prices soared.
The company reported a net profit of $16 billion following a $7.2-billion loss in 2020, when crude prices crashed.
Elsewhere, signs of progress on the diplomatic front in eastern Europe have kept a cap on oil price gains in recent days, as has the possibility of a revived Iran nuclear deal, which could see Tehran resume worldwide exports and ease supply problems.
Both main contracts were nevertheless higher Thursday, having rallied this year to their highest levels since 2014.
- Key figures around 1630 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 35,628.05 points
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,199.40
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,672.40 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP less than 0.1 percent at 15,490.44 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,101.55 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 27,696.08 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 24,924.35 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,485.91 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1486 from $1.1425 late Wednesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3630 from $1.3535
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.29 pence from 84.40 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 115.84 yen from 115.52 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.3 percent at $92.74 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $91.25 per barrel
burs-rl/imm
P.L.Madureira--PC