TOKYO – Global shares were mixed in languid trading Tuesday as investors watched for tax reform developments in the U.S. and digested weak manufacturing data from China.
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KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 inched up nearly 0.1 percent to 5,345.81 in early trading. Germany’s DAX added 0.2 percent to 13,104.32, while Britain’s FTSE 100 added nearly 0.2 percent to 7,428.53. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down nearly 0.1 percent at 23,395. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent at 2,578.70.
CHINA WATCH: China’s industrial value-added output expanded 6.2 percent year-on-year in October, slowing from 6.6-percent growth in September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. China’s private fixed-asset investment increased 5.8 percent on year in the first 10 months of this year, lower than the 6-percent increase for the first nine months. The Chinese economy is still growing but the focus is on assessing whether that pace is slowing.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Risk appetite was . dithering,” Mizuho Bank Ltd. (Singapore) said in a commentary. “Sure, it wasn’t as ‘Chicken Little, the sky is falling’ type of panic (affected or real). Nonetheless, the mood is certainly nowhere near the exuberance earlier this year.”
U.S. TAXES: The fate of U.S. tax overhaul legislation remains uncertain. It would deeply cut corporate taxes, double the standard deduction used by most Americans, and limit or repeal completely the federal deduction for state and local property, income and sales taxes. It carries high political stakes for President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index was flat to finish at 22,380.01 after trading in a narrow margin. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was nearly unchanged at 29,154.01, down 0.1 percent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9 percent to 5,968.70. South Korea’s Kospi edged down 0.2 percent to 2,526.64. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.5 percent to 3,429.55. But shares in Taiwan and Southeast Asia were mostly higher.
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ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 23 cents to $56.53 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 2 cents to $56.76 on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, slipped 22 cents to $62.94 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.73 yen from 113.30 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1691 from $1.1656.
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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama can be reached at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at https://www.apnews.com/search/yuri%20kageyama
