World Shares Mixed Ahead Of Fed’s Rate Call

Tokyo: World shares were mixed on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve prepared to wrap up its policy meeting with virtually everyone expecting it to keep interest rates unchanged despite President Donald Trump’s calls for it to cut borrowing costs.

Germany’s DAX was nearly unchanged at 23,250.56, while the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.5 per cent to 7,661.64. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3 per cent to 8,573.67. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up about 0.6 per cent. In Asia, shares advanced after the US and China said they plan to hold trade talks in Switzerland later this week.

Hong Kong’s benchmark briefly jumped more than 2 per cent after officials in Beijing rolled out interest rate cuts and other moves to help support the Chinese economy and markets as higher tariffs ordered by Trump hit the country’s exports. But the markets’ reaction to both developments was relatively restrained.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.1 per cent lower to 36,779.66. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained only 0.1 per cent by the end of trading, closing at 22,691.88.