World shares lower after mixed session on Wall St
As China moved to reverse some of its ‘non-tariff’ measures against the US agreed in their temporary trade war cease-fire
image for illustrative purpose
New York: World shares and US futures slipped Thursday after US stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street.Oil prices fell about $2 a barrel. China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the US as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire and most markets traded in a narrow range.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.3 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 per cent. Germany’s DAX shed 0.8 per cent to 23,344.95, while the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4 per cent at 7,804.46. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.5 per cent to 8,540.97. Computer chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners, with Disco Corp. falling 3.2 per cent and Advantest down 1.1 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.1 per cent to 23,382.26, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.7 per cent to 3,380.82. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.2 per cent and India’s Sensex also was down 0.2 per cent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2 per cent higher to 8,297.50. South Korea’s Kospi gave up 0.7 per cent to 2,621.36.
On Wednesday, a choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish as gains by several big technology stocks helped temper losses. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1 per cent to 5,892.58 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 per cent to 42,051.06. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7 per cent to 19,146.81.
Super Micro Computer surged 15.7 per cent after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data center company DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices gained 4.7 per cent after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program. Nvidia rose 4.2 per cent and Google parent Alphabet added 3.7 per cent. The US will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level on Thursday, and economists expect an easing of price pressures. An update for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp drop to 0.2 per cent in April from 1.4 per cent the previous month. Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.
