TOKYO (AP) — Global shares rose Wednesday, led by a 9% surge in Hong Kong’s benchmark after Chinese leaders promised more support for the slowing Chinese economy, while investors awaited the outcome of a meeting of the Federal Reserve.
France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.7% to 6,525.78 while Germany’s DAX added 2.6% to 14,271.77. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 7,253.71. The future for the Dow industrials was up 0.9% and the S&P 500 future gained 1.1%.
Various factors have contributed to the latest rally, including comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting there was still some reason to be optimistic negotiations might yet yield an agreement with the Russian government.
Yet, Russia escalated its bombardment of the Ukrainian capital and launched new assaults on the port city of Mariupol, making bloody advances on the ground Wednesday as Zelenskyy prepared to make a direct appeal for more help in a rare speech by a foreign leader to the U.S. Congress.
At its policy meeting later Wednesday, the Fed is expected to increase its key short-term rate by 0.25 percentage points. That would be the first increase since 2018, pulling it off its record low of nearly zero, and likely the start to a series of hikes.
The Fed is trying to slow the economy enough to tamp down the high inflation sweeping the country while avoiding triggering a recession.
Inflation is already at its highest level in generations, and…