Global stocks mixed after Wall St drop as virus cases rise
Yuri Kageyama | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 10 months AGO
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed Tuesday after a retreat on Wall Street on the first trading day of the year.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.1% in early trading to 5,595.25, while Germany's DAX inched down nearly 0.1% to 13,719.03. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to 6,618.42. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with both Dow and S&P 500 futures up 0.1%.
Shares are trading in a narrow range ahead of a run-off election for senatorial seats in the state of Georgia that will determine whether Republicans retain control of the Senate. The vote is expected to have a critical impact on the potential effectiveness of President-elect Joseph Biden.
With coronavirus cases climbing at frightening rates around the world, more lockdown orders to fight the pandemic threaten to undermine a global economic recovery, countering progress thanks to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.4% to finish at 27,158.63 as the government was preparing to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and several surrounding areas.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched down less than 0.1% to 6,681.90. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.6% to 2,990.57, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6% to 27,649.86. The Shanghai Composite climbed 0.7% to 3,528.68.
On Monday, U.S. stocks pulled back from their recent record highs, as big swings returned to Wall Street at the onset of a year where the dominant expectation has been for a powerful economic rebound to sweep the world.
Investors have been hoping that vaccines will allow daily life around the world to slowly return to normal. That's helped spark a recent recovery for stocks of travel-related businesses, smaller companies and other industries left behind for much of the pandemic.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 5 cents to $47.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It shed 92 cents to $47.62 on Monday.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 9 cents to $51.00 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar slipped to 102.92 Japanese yen from 103.13 yen late Monday. The euro cost $1.2269, up from $1.2249.