Global shares are mixed amid cautious relief over U.S.-China agreement
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly higher Wednesday as a cautious sense of relief spread through regional markets after the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day pause in their trade war.
France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.5% in early trading to 7,835.89, while Germany’s DAX inched down 0.1% to 23,593.92. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower to 8,596.66.
The future for the Dow futures was up 0.1%, while that for the S&P 500 rose less than 0.1%.
In Asian trading, Chinese markets rallied on expectations of another rush in export orders during the 90-day grace period for China-U.S. tariffs.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.3% to 23,640.65, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.9% to 3,403.95.
Chinese tech companies made big gains, with games and entertainment giant Tencent Holdings up 3%, search engine company Baidu up 4% and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings advancing 3.4%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.1% to finish at 38,128.13. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 8,279.60.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.2% to 2,640.57.
The relief over the trade truce between the U.S. and China is tepid among global businesses and investors given uncertainty over how long it might last and where tariffs might go in the months ahead.
A report overnight that showed U.S. inflation unexpectedly slowed last month helped drive buying on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 climbed 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.6%.
The hope is that President Donald Trump will ease his stiff tariffs on trading partners worldwide before they create a recession and send inflation spiking higher.
In energy trading early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude fell 33 cents to $63.34 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 34 cents to $66.29 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged down to 146.40 Japanese yen from 147.21 yen. The euro cost $1.1251, up from $1.1188.