Stock market today: World shares slide further as rate cut, tariff worries hit market sentiment

BANGKOK (AP) — European shares opened higher on Friday and Asian stocks retreated after U.S. markets were closed to observe a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

Germany's DAX was flat at 20,316.29, while the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.1% to 7,486.82. In London, the FTSE edged 0.1% lower, to 8,312.55.

The future for the S&P 500 was down 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3% lower.

Markets in Asia saw a broad decline that analysts said reflects weakening confidence about the chances of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve given recent data showing unexpected strength in the U.S. economy.

Minutes from a Dec. 17-18 meeting released this week showed Fed officials expected to dial back the pace of interest rate cuts this year in the face of persistently elevated inflation and the threat of widespread tariffs increases under President-elect Donald Trump and other potential policy changes.

“It appears that markets, at some level, are fretting (over) the risk that the Fed will keep policy a lot more restrictive than is conducive for sustaining unbridled ‘risk on,’” Tan Jing Yi of Mizuho Bank said in a commentary.

Uncertainties over how aggressively Trump might pursue higher tariffs against China and other countries once he takes office also have left investors cautious just days ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration.

“Increased tariffs against Chinese goods are a given, but it is unclear which other economies in the region will be targeted and whether universal tariffs are still on the table,” ANZ Research said in a report.

Attention was focused on a U.S. non-farms jobs report due from the Labor Department later in the day.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 1.1% to 39,190.40, while South Korea's Kospi shed 0.2% to 2,515.78.

Chinese markets extended losses, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong down 0.9% at 19,064.29. The Shanghai Composite index fell 1.3%, to 3,168.52.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.4% to 8,294.10.

Bangkok's SET rose 0.3%, while the Sensex in India dropped 0.3%. Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.3% higher.

In the United States, the bond market remained open Thursday until its recommended closure at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Yields held relatively steady following a strong recent run that has rattled the stock market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury was sitting at 4.69% after topping 4.70% the day before, when it neared its highest level since April. It was below 3.65% in September.

Higher yields hurt stocks by making it more expensive for companies and households to borrow and by pulling some investors toward bonds and away from stocks. Yields have been climbing as reports on the U.S. economy have come in better than economists expected. Worries about possible upward pressure on inflation from tariff, tax and other policies that Trump prefers have also pushed yields higher.

In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose $1.12 to $75.04 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.14 to $78.06 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 157.68 Japanese yen from 158.14 yen. The euro rose to $1.0303 from $1.0301.

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person rides a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown in New York's Financial District on Dec. 31, 2024. American flags flew at half-staff there following the death of former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Iga Swiatek, a self-described “control freak,” is taking new precautions — including holding on to extra samples of medicine she takes, in case they need to be tested at some point — after a doping case she described Friday as “probably, like, the worst time in my life.”

Jannik Sinner, another player who spent time at No. 1 and tested positive in 2024, said ahead of the Australian Open, where he's the defending champion, that he hasn't been told when the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal of his exoneration will be heard in court.

“I know exactly as much as you guys know,” Sinner said in response to a reporter's question at a news conference Friday. “We are in a stage where we don’t know many, many things.”

As confident as he repeatedly has said he is about the eventual outcome, the 23-year-old Italian acknowledged that it's on his mind as the year's first Grand Slam tournament is set to begin Sunday (Saturday ET).

“Yeah, you think about this, of course,” Sinner said. “I would lie if I would tell you I forget.”

He and Swiatek, a five-time major champion, both were able to go for months last season without anyone knowing what was happening behind the scenes and that they'd failed tests.

Sinner tested positive twice for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid at a tournament in March; those results — and the fact that he was cleared by the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) — did not come out until August, shortly before the start of the U.S. Open, which he would go on to win. He was cleared because the ITIA accepted his explanation: A trainer exposed Sinner to a banned substance by giving him a massage shortly after using a cream on his own injured finger.

Swiatek failed an out-of-competition drug test in August, but her one-month suspension wasn't known until late November, after she sat out three events without revealing why. By the time her case was announced by the ITIA — which accepted that her sample was tainted because of a contaminated sleep aid — all that was left for her to serve was a week, which landed in the offseason.

On Friday, Swiatek described the initial period she was sidelined, which she talked up at the time to personal reasons, as “pretty chaotic” and said, “For sure, it wasn’t easy; it was probably, like, the worst time in my life.”

“It got pretty awkward. Like we chose for the first tournament to say 'personal reasons’ because we honestly thought the suspension is going to be lifted soon. From the beginning it was obvious that something was contaminated because the level of this substance in my urine was so low that it had to be contamination,” Swiatek said.

“We started, yeah with ‘personal issues,’” she added, “because I needed also time to figure everything out.”

Swiatek said she was worried about what other players' reactions would be at the start of this season.

“Besides the fact I couldn’t play, this was the worst thing for me: What people would say. Because I always worked hard to be a good example, to show my integrity, show good behavior,” she said. “Having no control over this case really freaked me out a bit. But in the locker room, I mean, the girls are great.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Italy's Jannik Sinner takes a break during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Italy's Jannik Sinner reacts during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Poland's Iga Swiatek reacts during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)