TOKYO (AP) – Global shares were mostly lower yesterday, as pessimism prevailed about higher interest rates ahead and Wall Street continued a late-summer slump.
France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.2 per cent in early trading to 6,090.07, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.3 per cent to 12,832.11. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.8 per cent to 7,242.88. United States (US) shares were set to be little changed with Dow futures inching up less than 0.1 per cent to 31,174.00. S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 per cent to 31,171.00.
Shares fell in Tokyo, Sydney, South Korea and Hong Kong, but were little changed in Shanghai. Oil prices fell, while the Japanese yen continued to decline against the US dollar to about JPY144.
“The mood in markets is defensive ahead of key central bank decisions,” said Anderson Alves at ActivTrades.
Rising energy prices are adding to the worries about recessions in some parts of the world, he said.
In Japan, the government is giving JPY50,000 (USD350) to needy families, to help cope with daily needs and energy prices in a move also designed to boost the lagging economy.
“The real solution to this inflation crisis obviously lies on the supply side, in terms of energy and other key goods. Yet that really takes us a step away from inflation-targeting and back towards an echo of how macro-stability was previously achieved,” according to RaboResearch.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.7 per cent to finish at 27,430.30. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.4 per cent to 6,729.30. South Korea’s Kospi slid 1.4 per cent to 2,376.46.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dipped 0.8 per cent to 19,044.30, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1 per cent at 3,246.29.
China’s trade weakened in August as high energy prices, inflation and anti-virus measures weighed on global and Chinese consumer demand, and imports of Russian oil and gas surged, China’s customs data showed. Exports rose seven per cent over a year ago, decelerating from July’s 18 per cent expansion, while imports contracted by 0.2 per cent, compared with the previous month’s already weak 2.3 per cent growth.
The Federal Reserve has indicated it will not let up anytime soon on raising interest rates to bring down the highest inflation in decades.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 78 cents to $86.10 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 77 cents to $92.06 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 144.02 Japanese yen from 142.76 yen. The euro was little changed at 99 cents.
