TOKYO (AP) — European shares were mostly higher in early trading Thursday after a drop in Asia that followed another round of selling on Wall Street, set off by investor worries about a trade war.
France’s CAC 40 added 0.4% in early trading to 5,242.66, while Germany’s DAX rose nearly 0.6% to 11,902.87. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2% to 7,201.12. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.3% at 25,187. S&P 500 futures were also higher, adding 0.4% to 2,791.40.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3% to finish at 20,942.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.7% to 6,392.10. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.8% to 2,038.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3% at 27,149.04, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% to 2,905.81.
Investors have been worried that the trade war between the U.S. and China will derail global economic and corporate profit growth as it drags on with no sign of a resolution.
“The cracks in global equity markets threatened to grow wider still as relentless haven-buying of sovereign bonds overnight pushed key yields even lower and sent recession fears through stocks,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.
“Asia is unlikely to feel much relief today either with both the Nikkei 225 and the ASX 200 down.”
The U.S. market has been heading steadily lower this month as prospects for the economy have dimmed and as traders get more worried about the lingering trade feud between Washington and Beijing.
In early May the U.S. and China concluded their 11th round of trade talks with no agreement. The U.S. then more than doubled duties on $200 billion of Chinese products, and China responded by raising its own tariffs.
ENERGY:
Benchmark U.S. crude added 77 cents to $59.58. It fell 0.6% to settle at $58.81 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 32 cents to $68.19 per barrel.
CURRENCIES:
The dollar rose to 109.74 Japanese yen from 109.31 yen on Wednesday. The euro weakened to $1.1134 from $1.1154.
