Global stocks, Wall St futures sink ahead of US jobs update

Raising interest rates is a monetary policy instrument that typically helps suppress demand in the economy, thereby helping the inflation rate decline

Global stock markets and Wall Street futures fell Friday ahead of a U.S. job market update amid unease about possible further interest rate hikes.

Markets in London, Shanghai, Frankfurt and Tokyo declined. Oil prices were lower.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell Thursday by its biggest one-day margin this year after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned rates might be raised faster than expected to cool stubbornly high inflation.

Traders looked ahead to U.S. government hiring data due out Friday after other indicators showed the job market has stayed strong despite repeated interest rate hikes. That is good for workers, but Fed officials worry rising wages might fuel inflation. That might lead to more rate hikes to dampen business activity and hiring. Fed officials are “clearly messaging that rates will move higher,” Rubeela Farooqi of High-Frequency Economics said in a report.