LONDON—Global shares struggled to advance on Monday while investors digested news of an unexpected cut in Chinese interest rates as data pointed to faltering growth in the world’s second largest economy, sending oil prices nearly 2 percent lower.
Weaker U.S. stock index futures also weighed on sentiment, while a steadier dollar knocked gold.
The MSCI all country index was barely firmer, a month-long advance having whittled away the benchmark’s decline for the year to about 13 percent.
China’s central bank cut key lending rates to revive demand as data showed the economy unexpectedly slowing in July, with factory and retail activity squeezed by Beijing’s zero-COVID policy and a property crisis. Until now, investors have been grappling with how much further central banks in the United States and Europe would hike rates when they meet next month….