Global stock markets higher despite China and Korea being closed for holidays

Global stocks surged on Monday, after a strong increase on Wall Street at the start of a week in which China, South Korea, and Southeast Asian markets will be closed for the Lunar New Year vacation.

London and Frankfurt started the day higher. Tokyo and Hong Kong rose, but Sydney fell. China, South Korea, and Taiwan all had their markets shuttered. Later in the week, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia were scheduled to close.

The S&P 500 index jumped 2.4 percent on Friday, snapping a three-week losing run and handing major indices their best gains of the year.

The Federal Reserve’s decision to try to moderate inflation by accelerating plans to raise interest rates and wind down bond purchases and other stimulus that is boosting stock prices has alarmed investors.

“The prospect of rising rates and dwindling global liquidity compressed into a much shorter time frame comes with considerable risks of disturbing markets,” Mizuho Bank’s Vishnu Varathan said in a statement.

In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London advanced 0.6 percent to 7,507.98, while the DAX in Frankfurt rose 1.1 percent to 15.491.27. The CAC in Paris rose 0.6 percent to 7,010.76.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index futures were up less than 0.1 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average remained steady.

The S&P 500 gained 2.4 percent on Friday, its largest rise since June 2020. The Dow rose 1.7 percent, while the Nasdaq composite rose 3.1 percent.