World shares advance as oil prices take a dip

Trading has been relatively muted recently following the US government’s latest shutdown. The closure is delaying the release of several major economic reports that usually move the market.

Stocks have been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Fed

Manila: European shares were mixed in early trading while most Asian stocks rose on Thursday after US stocks hit records again following a brief stumble.

The futures for S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both up less than 0.1 per cent, while markets in mainland China gained more than 1 per cent as they reopened following a weeklong holiday.

In early European trading, Germany’s Dax added 0.2 per cent to 24,634.96 while France’s CAC 40 was almost flat at 8,062.13. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 per cent to 9,507.00 as sentiments were weighed by banking and housing stocks.

Oil prices fell back, then slightly recovered after Israel and Hamas agreed Wednesday to pause fighting in Gaza so that the remaining hostages there can be freed in the coming days in ex-change for Palestinian prisoners.

The acceptance of elements of a plan put forward by the Trump administration represents the biggest breakthrough in months in the devastating two-year-old war and reduced risks in the volatile region. US benchmark crude added 12 cents to $62.67 per barrel as of Thursday afternoon.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.8 per cent, closing at 48,580.44. Technology giant SoftBank Group surged over 11 per cent after it announced a $5.4 billion deal to acquire the robotics unit of Swiss engineering firm ABB.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged down 0.3 per cent to 26,740.37, while the Shanghai Composite index added 1.3 per cent to 3,933.97 in its first trad-ing session since Oct 1. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up nearly 0.3 per cent to 8,969.80 while Taiwan’s Taiex pared earlier bigger gains, closing 0.9 per cent higher.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Thursday reported its third-quarter revenue climbed 30 per cent year-on-year, beating market forecasts. Its shares gained 2.1 per cent. On Wednesday, Wall Street resumed climbing and the price of gold pushed further past $4,000 per ounce.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent to 6,735.72, another rec-ord, a day after snapping a seven-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged less than 0.1 per cent lower to 46,601.78, while the Nasdaq composite rose 1.1 per cent to its own record of 23,043.38.

Trading has been relatively muted recently following the US government’s latest shutdown. The closure is delaying the release of several major economic reports that usually move the market.

Stocks have been drifting without them or other signals to change expectations for cuts to inter-est rates by the Federal Reserve, one of the major reasons the stock market has surged since April.