Stock, oil, gold markets mixed after Fed rate cut

European shares and international oil and gold prices were mixed on Wednesday and Thursday, after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.5-percentage-point interest rate cut.

Three major European stock indexes opened higher on Thursday.

As of 12:00 London time on the day, the UK's Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index rose by 1.05 percent.

As of 13:00 local time, France's CAC 40 index increased by 1.98 percent, and Germany's DAX Index edged up by 1.66 percent.

In terms of crude oil futures, the Fed's announcement failed to boost their prices, leaving investors worried that interest rate cuts may not be able to effectively boost demand for the energy.

As a result, international oil prices fell slightly on Wednesday.

The West Texas Intermediate for October delivery decreased 28 cents, or 0.39 percent, to settle at 70.91 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November delivery dropped five cents, or 0.07 percent, to settle at 73.65 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.

As for gold, its international price once hit a record intraday high of 2,627.2 U.S. dollars per ounce on Wednesday. Later, affected by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's hawkish remarks, the U.S. Treasury yields rebounded and the increase in international gold prices narrowed. At the end of the trading day, the gold futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by 0.24 percent.

Stock, oil, gold markets mixed after Fed rate cut

China urged the European Union (EU) to be clearly aware of the harm of imposing additional tariffs, as it will not solve any problems, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

European Council President Charles Michel said on Friday at the ASEAN summit that China must adapt its behavior to solve the escalating trade row with Europe.

When asked to respond to Michel's statements, Mao said that on the economic and trade disputes between China and the EU, China made clear its position more than once.

"The EU needs to see clearly that higher tariffs solve no problem and will only undermine the EU’s business environment, weaken Chinese companies’ confidence in investment and cooperation in Europe, reduce the competitiveness of the EU’s relevant industry, and destabilize global industrial and supply chains. This will backfire and do no one good. We urge the EU to take concrete actions and work with China to find solutions through consultation and avoid further escalation of the trade frictions," she said.

EU needs to see clearly higher tariffs solve no problem: spokeswoman