Global shares mixed after Wall St hits records

Global shares traded mixed, calming somewhat from the buzz set off by recent record rallies on Wall Street, while investors’ attention turned to global interest rates and uncertainty caused by developments in Venezuela.

France’s CAC 40 shed 0.3 per cent to 8,213.78 in early trading, while the DAX in Germany gained 0.4 per cent to 24,993.97. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.6 per cent to 10,067.95. US futures were mixed. The contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up nearly 0.1 per cent.

That for the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 per cent to finish at 51,961.98, a day after setting a record.

China’s decision late Tuesday to ban exports to Japan of goods that might be used for military purposes hit energy Relations between Japan and China have worsened after Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in early November its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, a self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its sovereign territory.

Last week, China staged military drills around Taiwan. Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6 per cent to 4,551.06. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 per cent to 8,695.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.9 per cent to 26,458.95, while the Shanghai Composite added less than 0.1 per cent to 4,085.77.

“Global uncertainty continues to deepen,” Tan Boon Heng of Mizuho Bank in Singapore said in a commentary, citing the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces in a weekend raid. The rally spurred by buying of technology shares may have run its course, analysts said.

“Tech appetite is weaker in Asia,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, said in a report. “It increasingly feels like good news is no longer generating the same euphoria seen over the past three years.

The tech rally is showing signs of fatigue, supporting rotation trades — a trend further reinforced by geopolitical headlines.”

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent, setting a record on just the third trading day of the year.