Global stocks gain after Wall Street rise

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets rose Tuesday after Wall Street gained as investors looked ahead to this week’s gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent to 7,374.00 and Germany’s DAX added 0.7 percent to 12,149.77. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.5 percent to 5,114.43. On Monday, the DAX lost 0.8 percent, the CAC 40 fell 0.5 percent and the FTSE slipped 0.1 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index both rose 0.2 percent.

ASIA’S DAY: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1 percent to 27,433.60 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent to 3,290.23. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was unchanged at 19,383.84. Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.4 percent to 2,365.33 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 5,750.10. India’s Sensex gained 0.3 percent to 31,365.36 and benchmarks in Singapore, Bangkok and Jakarta also rose. New Zealand ended unchanged.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 steadied following losses. Companies are mostly finished reporting quarterly results and profits and revenue were stronger than expected. The S&P 500 and Dow both gained 0.1 percent while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1 percent.

CENTRAL BANK WATCH: Investors looked ahead to Thursday’s annual Jackson Hole gathering of central bankers and economists. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi are both expected to speak. Stimulus from central banks has been a key reason for the stock market’s surge since the Great Recession. But the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates and preparing to pare back bond holdings bought following the 2008 financial crisis. Investors wonder when the European Central Bank may follow suit.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “Fed Chair Janet Yellen is likely to look past low inflation and Trump’s credibility crisis, and remain resolute in normalizing monetary policy,” DBS Group said in a report. “The Fed will be using Jackson Hole to set the stage to start unwinding its balance sheet in the coming months,” it said. “ECB President Mario Draghi will probably be evasive about his central bank’s strategy to exit stimulus.”

KOREAS TENSIONS: U.S. and South Korean forces started annual joint military exercises on Monday. Tensions are higher than usual with North Korea, which in the past has responded to the drills with weapons tests and a string of belligerent rhetoric.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 32 cents to $47.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.13 on Monday to close at $47.53. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 36 cents in London to $52.02. It shed $1.06 the previous session to $51.66.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 109.37 yen from Monday’s 108.97. The euro declined to $1.1778 from $1.1815.

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