(Updates prices as of 0751 GMT)
By Tom Wilson and Kevin Buckland
LONDON/TOKYO, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Stocks globally
slipped on Wednesday, with a continued stimulus-fueled rally in
China the one bright spot, while the dollar came under pressure
and crude oil retreated from a multi-week high.
European stocks fell 0.1%, after gaining nearly 1%
on Wednesday. Oil and gas shares led the losses, falling
0.9% on concerns China's stimulus plans would not do enough to
boost demand.
Wall Street was set for losses, too, with S&P 500 futures
down 0.2%.
The dollar, meanwhile, dipped to its lowest in a month
versus the euro and in two and a half years against the British
pound. U.S. consumer confidence data that showed the largest
decline in sentiment since August 2021 had overnight boosted the
case for a second hefty interest rate cut at the Federal
Reserve's next meeting.
The odds on another 50-basis point Fed rate cut at the
November meeting jumped to more than 60% from 53% a day earlier,
according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
"It feels like more is coming on the rate cutting side,"
said Samy Chaar, chief economist at Lombard Odier in Geneva.
The People's Bank of China followed its announcement of
wide-ranging policy easing on Tuesday with a cut to medium-term
lending rates to banks on Wednesday. Beijing's broad-based
stimulus - the biggest since the pandemic - also includes steps
to boost China's stock market and support for the ailing
property sector.
Mainland Chinese blue chips gained 1.4%,
adding to a 4.3% jump in the prior session. Hong Kong's Hang
Seng climbed 0.7%, adding to Tuesday's 4.1% surge.
While market players welcomed the stimulus, some analysts
say the PBOC's policy weapons don't have the key enemy to
economic growth in their line of sight: persistently weak
consumer demand.
"It's still short of that necessary to really handle the
broad imbalances of the dampening down of domestic demand in
China," Lombard Odier's Chaar said of the measures.
The strong start for Chinese stocks briefly invigorated
other regional indexes, but those gains soon fizzled. MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
gained 0.3%.
"The debate remains intense on whether there are legs to
this rally, though the desk is seeing investors opting to
buy/short cover first and ask questions later," UBS analysts
wrote in a note to clients.
DOLLAR ON THE BACK FOOT
Overall, the dollar stayed on the back foot.
In the wake of China's stimulus, the yuan strengthened to a
fresh 16-month high, briefly crossing the key 7-per-dollar level
in offshore trading, before retreating to be 7.0173 per dollar.
The euro added 0.1% to $1.1189 after earlier
pushing as far as $1.1199 for the first time since Aug. 26.
The Japanese yen was steady at 143.23 per dollar,
after earlier flipping between moderate gains and losses.
Sterling reached its highest since March 2022, at
$1.3430, before slipping back. It was last down 0.1%.
Meanwhile, Australia's dollar initially scaled its
highest since February of last year at $0.6908 but then slipped
back to sit at $0.68805 after inflation figures showed some
cooling, potentially setting up an earlier rate cut by the
central bank.
"The fall in the underlying measures of inflation is an
unexpected and welcomed surprise," said Tony Sycamore, an
analyst at IG, a brokerage.
Gold marked a new record peak at $2,670.43.
Brent crude futures slipped 0.5% to $74.80 a barrel,
not far from Tuesday's high of $75.87, a level previously not
seen since Sept. 3.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped a similar
amount to $71.08 per barrel.