Global shares mixed despite rally on Wall St

Tokyo Global shareswere mixed on Wednesday despite a rally on Wall Street driven by optimism over reports suggesting the American economy is in better shape than feared.

France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.7 per cent in early trading to 7,263.87, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 per cent to 15,953.77. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent to 7,491.90. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly unchanged while that for the S&P 500 was down 0.2 per cent. Oil prices advanced. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.0 per cent to finish at 33,193.99. A weakening Japanese yen helped lift exporter shares like autos. Toyota Motor Corp. surged 2.8 per cent, while video-game maker Nintendo Co. edged up 2.0 per cent. A cheap yen raises the value of overseas earnings when converted into yen. A dollar bought 144.00 yen, nearly unchanged. The euro slipped to $1.0951 from $1.0963. The recent rise of the dollar against the yen is raising speculation about how that could affect Japanese monetary policy and what it could mean for the economy at a time when inflationary pressures have picked up after years of deflation. The euro cost $1.0954, down from $1.0959.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.1 per cent to 7,196.50 after the government reported that the consumer price index rose 5.6 per cent in the twelve months to May. The most significant price rise included housing and food. The Reserve Bank of Australia made a surprise move of raising interest rate earlier this month to counter persisted price pressures. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.7 per cent to 2,564.19. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng recouped earlier losses, inching up 0.1 per cent to 19,172.05, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, falling less than 0.1 per cent to 3,189.38.