Global stocks climb with focus on inflation, Biden-Xi summit

Stock markets mostly rose Tuesday with economic recovery hopes offsetting concerns over soaring inflation, while traders gauged the success of a key summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The euro was lower against the dollar, one day after European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said she would not "venture" into speculation over interest rate rises in 2023 amid pressure for the bank to define its response to high inflation.

The British pound gained as surging UK inflation coupled with news Tuesday of falling British unemployment increased the likelihood of an interest rate rise from the Bank of England (BoE) next month, analysts said.

"The supply chain crisis has already spread across the globe, pushing up costs for companies and shows little sign of easing just yet," noted Susannah Streeter, senior markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"The pandemic bounce back has buttered up demand for goods, and now potential has grown for higher wages to congeal."

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey on Monday told British lawmakers that he felt "very uneasy" about high inflation ahead of the latest official print on the UK consumer prices index due Wednesday.

Global stock markets have enjoyed a long run of healthy gains -- with many hitting record or multi-year highs -- thanks to ultra-loose central bank monetary policies put in place at the start of the pandemic.

But with the recovery on track and people returning to a semblance of normality, inflation is surging to levels not seen in decades owing to a spike in demand and supply chain snarls -- forcing policymakers to turn off the taps.

Still, for now, investors remain optimistic that officials are on the right track, with Wall Street's three main indices as well as markets in Europe sitting at or just below all-time highs.

Tuesday's data on October US retail sales will be closely followed for an idea about the impact of inflation on consumer appetite.

Elsewhere, Biden and Xi's much-anticipated virtual talks Monday ended with both sides -- representing the world's two biggest economies -- trading strong warnings on the future of Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China.