Global stocks mostly rise as oil prices climb

The Federal Open Market Committee of the US Federal Reserve, the country's central bank, voted on Wednesday, as expected, to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged, keeping the target range at 3.75–4%. Most major stock indices rose the same day, while oil and natural gas prices climbed. This matters to investors because higher energy prices affect inflation expectations and central bank decisions.

Message from the central bank

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, referring to higher energy prices in recent weeks, said the bank's job is to ensure that relative price changes in some sectors do not spread across the whole economy.

Art Hogan, an analyst at the investment firm B. Riley Wealth Management, said Wall Street's main priority this week is assessing the published earnings of technology companies. They include Microsoft and Alphabet, two of the largest companies in artificial intelligence.

Stock markets

Shares of South Korean chipmaker SK hynix rose almost 11%, lifting Seoul's Kospi index by more than 6%.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 52,475.10 points, the S&P 500 rose 0.3% to 7,743.98 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 0.3% to 26,549.85.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 10,694.50 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 0.4% to 25,704.02, while Paris's CAC 40 slipped by less than 0.1% to 7,886.96.

Energy and currencies

Oil prices rose after reports that the US is planning a new military strike on Iran after the congressional midterm elections. WTI crude in New York rose 2.9% to $102.78 a barrel, and Brent in London gained 1.3% to $115.32. Natural gas at the Netherlands' Title Transfer Facility rose 4.85% to €100.72 per megawatt-hour.

The euro rose against the dollar from 1.1138 to 1.1154, the pound from 1.3316 to 1.3320 dollars, and the dollar against the Japanese yen from 157.90 to 158.03.