Archive · 14 Aug 2026
World shares mostly fall after encouraging US inflation data
In many countries, people can buy tiny pieces of companies called stocks, and the place where they buy them is called a stock market.
On Friday, most stock markets around the world went down a little bit.
This happened after a report showed that prices in America are going up more slowly than people expected, and that is considered good news.
When prices go up too fast, it is called inflation, and it makes life harder for families.
The report showed that prices at wholesale level in America went up only 4.7% compared with last year.
Because of this good news, many investors think the central bank will not raise interest rates again very soon.
Interest rates are the fees people pay to borrow money, and keeping them low helps businesses grow.
On Thursday, one big American stock market, the S&P 500, reached its highest point ever.
Also, a British politician named Nigel Farage won his seat back in Parliament.
World shares mostly fell Friday as European markets declined after a mixed session in Asia, while US futures were little changed.
US inflation data showed a better-than-expected improvement in July, with wholesale prices 4.7% higher than a year earlier.
Oil prices resumed climbing after slipping 2% a day earlier.
Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.3% as Nigel Farage regained his UK Parliament seat, beating comic candidate Count Binface in a widely mocked special election.
On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to an all-time high close of 7,798.99, while the Dow added 0.1% and the Nasdaq climbed 0.8%.
- Who
- Investors worldwide, US inflation report, and UK politician Nigel Farage, who regained his seat in Parliament.
- What
- World shares mostly fell after US inflation data showed a better-than-expected improvement in July, while oil prices resumed climbing.
- When
- Friday, following Thursday's record US market close.
- Where
- Stock markets across Europe (Britain, Germany, France), Asia (Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Australia, Taiwan) and the United States.
- Why
- Encouraging US inflation data and backing-off oil prices stripped away the case for another near-term Federal Reserve rate hike, according to SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.
- FTSE 100 (UK)
- Fell 0.3% to 10,744.31
- DAX (Germany)
- Rose 0.5% to 26,442.54
- CAC 40 (Paris)
- Edged less than 0.1% lower to 8,648.48
- Nikkei 225 (Tokyo)
- Gained 0.6% to 68,713.80
- Kospi (South Korea)
- Rose 2.4% to 6,977.94
- Hang Seng (Hong Kong)
- Lost 1.1% to 25,116.85
- S&P 500 (Thursday close)
- All-time high 7,798.99, up 0.7%
- US wholesale inflation (July)
- Prices 4.7% higher than a year earlier