Global shares turn sluggish as oil prices rise
Global shares were mostly lower on Thursday as investors watched for fresh signs of inflation, including soaring crude oil prices.
image for illustrative purpose
Tokyo: Global shares were mostly lower on Thursday as investors watched for fresh signs of inflation, including soaring crude oil prices. European shares declined in early trading. Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Thursday as investors watched for fresh signs of inflation and crude oil prices hovered above $ 122 a barrel, adding to price pressures.
France's CAC 40 slipped 0.7 per cent in early trading to 6,404.59, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.9 per cent to 14,309.79. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.7 per cent to 7,543.28. The future for the Dow industrials edged nearly 0.1 per cent lower to 32,862.00. The S&P 500 future fell nearly 0.1 per cent to 4,111.50. Benchmarks declined across Asia, except in Tokyo, where a weakening yen sent issues of some Japanese exporters higher.
Nintendo Co. issues surged 1.6 per cent, while Honda Motor Co. stocks gained more than 0.6 per cent. The Japanese yen has recently slid to fresh 20-year lows against the US dollar, a trend the International Monetary Fund and other analysts expect to continue for a while because of higher interest rates in the US and Europe, compared to Japan, where long-term interest rates remain at near-zero.
The dollar was trading at 133.55 Japanese yen after hitting 134 yen levels earlier in the day, down from 134.20 yen late on Wednesday. The euro cost $1.0700, down from $1.0718. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank is holding a monetary policy meeting later in the day. Comments from Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank, have markets anticipating an interest rate hike in July, with possibly more to follow.
"Nonetheless, the economic recovery remains fragile and subject to down side risks from geo-political risks, eroding real incomes, supply chain constraints and limited fiscal support," said Venkateswaran Lavanya of the Asia and Oceania Treasury Department at Mizuho Bank in Singapore.
"To that end, ECB will not want to throw the baby out with the bath water; calibrating monetary tightening in a more sustained, even if slow, pace," she said in a commentary.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 inched up less than 0.1 per cent to finish at 28,246.53. Australia's S and P/ASX 200 slipped 1.4 per cent to 7,019.70. South Korea's Kospi ended little changed, inching down less than 0.1 per cent to 2,625.44.
