Stock market today: Global markets lower ahead of what traders hope will be a final Fed rate hike

Global stock markets are lower after Wall Street hit a 15-month high ahead of what traders hope will be the Federal Reserve’s final increase in this interest rate cycle. London and Paris opened lower. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.3% after companies reported bigger profits than expected. Investors expect the Fed to raise its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to a 22-year high. They hope the U.S. central bank can manage a “soft landing,” extinguishing inflation while avoiding a recession. Traders waited to see how China’s ruling Communist Party will carry out its promise to shore up sluggish economic growth.