Global stocks higher amid interest rate uncertainty

By JOE McDONALD
AP Business Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets are mostly higher as investors watch for signs of whether central banks will try to cool inflation by speeding up the withdrawal of economic stimulus that is boosting share prices. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai and Tokyo advanced. Hong Kong declined. Wall Street futures were higher after the benchmark S&P 500 index sank Monday on losses for tech and communications companies. Markets have been uneasy since Federal Reserve officials said in mid-December plans to withdraw record-low interest rates and other stimulus would be accelerated to cool inflation that is at multi-decade highs. The European Central Bank president said any rate hikes “will be very gradual.”