World shares trade mixed after US stocks fall back, while oil edges lower

Bangkok: World shares were mixed Friday after a modest retreat on Wall Street, while the price of crude oil edged lower. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.7 per cent to 26,329.28, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.3 per cent to 8,728.22. Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.5 per cent at 10,925.78. The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was nearly unchanged.

Selling of computer chipmakers and other stocks linked to the boom in artificial intelligence appeared to taper off a bit as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.1 per cent to 65,606.71. The Kospi in South Korea dropped 0.6 per cent to 6,258.77 and Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.4 per cent.

The Shanghai Composite index gained 1 per cent to 3,940.04 after China reported its exports grew at a slightly slower but still robust pace of about 24 per cent in July on strong demand for electronics and other high-tech products. China’s huge trade surplus narrowed last month and imports also slowed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng picked up 0.5 per cent to 25,668.03.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1 per cent, to 9,263.60. On Thursday, stocks declined on Wall Street as oil prices rose and more company earnings reports rolled in. The S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent and the Dow industrials fell 0.9 per cent.