Wall St rallies on economic optimism

Tokyo: GLOBAL shares were mixed Tuesday after a Wall Street rally that reflected some optimism about the economy recovering from the pandemic. France's CAC 40 climbed 0.8 per cent to 6,153.49, while Germany's DAX surged 1.1 per cent to 15,276.45.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.2 per cent to 6,818.49. US shares were set to drift lower, with Dow futures slipping 0.1 per cent to 33,405. S&P 500 futures fell 0.2 per cent to 4,061.12. Investors appeared to take in stride an announcement by Swiss bank Credit Suisse on Tuesday that it expects a one-time charge of 4.4 billion Swiss francs ($4.7 billion) related to a previously announced default of a US hedge fund on margin calls.

Two top executives are leaving the Zurich-based bank and it has suspended a share buyback programme and reduced its dividend in the wake of the default. Credit Suisse didn't identify the hedge fund or the other banks affected, or give other details of what happened. News reports identified the hedge fund as New York-based Archegos Capital Management, whose default also has ensnared Japan's Nomura. In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost early gains to finish 1.3 per cent lower at 29,696.63.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.8 per cent to 6,885.90. South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.2 per cent to 3,127.08. The Shanghai Composite lost less than 0.1 per cent to 3,482.97. Hong Kong trading was closed for Easter. Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko, noted a gradual recovery in the Japanese economy had been reflected in the recent "tankan" Bank of Japan survey, which was released last week.