By Yuri Kageyama
TOKYO (AP) — Global shares mostly rose Wednesday though investors continued to monitor the impact of the outbreak.
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 benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to finish at 23,400.70. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4% to 7,144.60. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1% to 2,210.34.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.5% 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.
“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 of 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 68 cents to $52.73 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 74 cents to $58.49 a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.48 Japanese yen from 109.87 yen on Tuesday. The euro inched up to$1.0798 from $1.0792.
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Source: AP News
