TOKYO (AP) — Globalshares mostly rose Wednesday though investors continued to monitor the impact of the outbreak of a new virus that began in China.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 6,093, while Germany's DAX gained 0.5% to 13,745. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to 7,433. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow and S&P 500 futures both up 0.3%.
Japan's benchmarkNikkei 225 rose0.9% to finish at 23,400.70.Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 7,144.60. South Korea's Kospiedged up 0.1% to 2,210.34.Hong Kong's Hang Seng added0.5% to 27,655.81,while the Shanghai Composite gave up earlier gains, edging 0.3% lower to 2,975.40.
Adding to optimism, new virus cases in China have been falling, with 1,749 new infections and 136 new deaths announced on Wednesday. But data are showing disruptions continue to manufacturing, retailing and tourism.
“Collapse in demand due to COVID-19 remains the key worry for the markets across the globe as the disease continues its spread,” said Prakash Sakpal, economist for Asia at ING.
Japan reported its third straight month trade deficits in January and like the rest of Asia is enduring a downturn in tourism. Some controls have been set on travel to and from China and other places suffering from outbreaks of the virus.
Trade is likely to be a “major drag” on Japan's economic growth this quarter, Tom Learmouth of Capital Economics said in a commentary. He is forecasting a 0.6% decrease in GDP in the January-March quarter linked to disruptions from the virus.
The gains in Asian trading followed a modest loss on U.S. stock indexes, which gave up some of their solid gains from the past two weeks.
ENERGY: Benchmark crude oil rose 68cents to $52.73a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 74 cents to $58.49a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to110.48Japanese yen from 109.87 yen on Tuesday. The euro inched up to$1.0798from $1.0792.
___
Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama
Before you consider Lear, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Lear wasn't on the list.
While Lear currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for May 2024. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Click the link below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
