TOKYO – Global shares were mostly higher Thursday after an overnight reversal of losses on Wall Street except for indexes in China, where economic growth worries lurked.
KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 added 1.6 per cent to 4,222.41 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 per cent to 9,233.25. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.6 per cent to 5,959.28. But U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures inching down 0.4 per cent to 16,411. S&P 500 futures were also down 0.4 per cent at 1,922.70.
ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite index fell 6.4 per cent to 2,741.25, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 1.6 per cent to 18,888.75. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index gained 1.4 per cent to finish at 16,140.34 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.3 per cent to 1,918.57. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1 per cent to 4,881.20. Shares rose in Taiwan, Indonesia and New Zealand.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Despite the tenuous theoretical link between supply side-driven lower oil prices and weakening share markets, they again moved in lock step overnight,” said Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets. “Oil reversed a 4 per cent drop to move 1 per cent higher, and stocks followed.”
OIL BOUNCE: U.S. crude oil slipped 2 cents to $32.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed up 28 cents at $32.15 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude oil, which is used to price oil internationally, fell 75 cents to $33.66.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.28 yen from 112.08 yen in the previous day’s trading. The euro inched up to $1.1023 from $1.1011.
