Tokyo, Sep 24 (AP) Global shares were trading mostly lower Thursday, as investors tried to digest the recent swings in oil prices and the US bond market.
France’s CAC 40 shed nearly 0.8 per cent to 8,061.10 in early trading, while the German DAX declined 0.9 per cent to 25,183.19. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched down 0.1 per cent to 10,693.15. US shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.4 per cent to 51,669.00. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.6 per cent to 7,725.75.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.8 per cent to finish at 65,513.99, as some chipmakers got a boost from the recent interest in artificial intelligence. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7 per cent to 8,702.00.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3 per cent to 24,761.13, while the Shanghai Composite dipped 1.2 per cent to 3,888.37. Trading was closed in South Korea for the Chuseok autumn harvest holiday.
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose 2.35 per cent to USD 94.33 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 2.77 per cent to USD 106.94 a barrel.
The price for a barrel of Brent remains much higher than the roughly USD 72 it cost before the war with Iran began, and worries are running high that the war with Iran will keep oil bottled up in the Middle East for a long time. Talks are continuing with mediators between US and Iranian officials, but nothing concrete has come from it yet.
Investors are also closely watching for what might come of the talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping later in the global day at the White House. A lot is likely to be discussed, including trade, the war in Iran and AI. Some analysts are not too optimistic about seeing major agreements.
US inflation has remained so stubbornly high that the Federal Reserve raised its short-term interest rate last week for the first time in three years. Fed Gov. Michael Barr said in a speech this week that further hikes “are likely to be needed” to get inflation to the Fed’s 2 per cent target.
Although the Bank of Japan recently raised its benchmark interest rate to stem the slide in the Japanese yen, the move was largely figured in for weeks. And so the yen hasn’t really bounced back. A weak yen works as a negative for oil-importing Japan when oil prices are soaring.
In currency trading, the US dollar edged up to 158.37 Japanese yen from 158.30 yen. The euro was unchanged at USD 1.1388.
(PTI News)
