- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- 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
Markets mixed as China, Fed keep confidence in check
Markets were mixed Tuesday as investors scrabbled to recover from the previous day's rout but fears over the impact of China's Covid-induced lockdowns and the Federal Reserve's plan to hike interest rates quickly continue to drag on sentiment.
The Omicron flare-up across China has led authorities to impose strict containment measures in its biggest cities, shutting off millions of people and threatening to deal a hammer blow to the world's number two economy.
While Shanghai -- the largest city -- has been in lockdown for weeks, Beijing has launched mass testing for nearly all its 21 million residents with many in the capital now fearing the same fate as the financial hub.
The measures have dealt a severe blow to the economy, leading to concerns about the likely knock-on effects for the rest of the world owing to its reliance on goods from China.
"At this rate, most of the cities in China will be affected by some kind of restricted movement and this can’t be solved through fiscal or monetary policies," said Ma Jiabao at Shiheng Capital Management.
The China crisis comes as traders grapple with a hawkish Fed, which is struggling to control inflation, which is sitting at a more than 40-year high.
"For the time being, the spectre of more severe restrictions in China is not being traded from the inflationary side, but rather as a detriment to the global recovery and as a demand-negative shock," said BMO Capital Markets strategists Benjamin Jeffery and Ian Lyngen.
They added that they were "less convinced that the situation will be enough to materially shift" the Fed's plans to aggressively hike interest rates to tame runaway inflation.
US central bank policymakers have said they are keen to lift rates several times this year to get a grip on prices, with boss Jerome Powell indicating a half-point rise next month followed by more before January.
The Fed and China issues are being compounded by the war in Ukraine and all the uncertainty that has brought, while investors are nervously awaiting results and forecasts from the world's biggest companies, hoping for an idea about the impact on their bottom lines.
While Asia suffered a torrid day Monday, Wall Street managed to end on a positive note, helped by news of Elon Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter.
But buying remained weak in Asia again Tuesday.
Hong Kong edged up but made only small dents in the massive losses suffered the day before, while Shanghai extended the previous day's losses of more than five percent. The indexes were given a brief boost after the People's Bank of China pledged to boost growth and consumption.
However, that soon petered out and analysts said similar comments last month were not followed up with any concrete policy measures.
Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta ticked higher, though Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila fell.
London, Paris and Frankfurt all opened with healthy gains.
Crude prices were slightly higher but were unable to recover fully from the hefty drop seen Monday caused by concerns about demand from China.
"Given Omicron's less-lethal footprint, traders had expected some easing of lockdowns before the Golden Week" holiday next week, said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.
"And with this unlikely to happen, traders were then forced to revalue oil prices lower on a more protracted consumption slump than expected."
- Key figures at 0720 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.4 percent at 26,700.11 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 19,972.59
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,886.43 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.9 percent at 7,445.85
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.5 percent at $102.88 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $98.83 per barrel
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0708 from $1.0716 late on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2736 from $1.2744
Euro/pound: UP at 84.07 pence from 84.05 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 127.78 yen from 128.15 yen
New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 34,049.46 (close)
-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --
A.F.Rosado--PC