Global stocks mixed as mkts in wait n watch mode

Tokyo: Global shares were trading mixed on Monday, as investors awaited further indications the Federal Reserve might begin cutting interest rates.

France’s CAC 40 was virtually unchanged in early trading at 8,151.94, while Germany’s DAX edged up 0.1 per cent to 18,227.53. Britain’s FTSE-100 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1 per cent to 7,929.84. The futures for the S&P-500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1 per cent lower. Japan’s Nikkei-225 shed 1.2 per cent to finish at 40,414.12, as investors sold shares to lock in profits after the benchmark recently hit record highs. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.2 per cent to 16,473.64, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.7 per cent to 3,026.31. China’s currency, the yuan, was set at a rate of 7.0996 against the US dollar.

The official central parity rate, is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the interbank market opens each business day. It is allowed to rise or fall only by 2 per cent each trading day. The yuan had weakened to more than 7.2282 to the dollar on Friday, falling to a four-month low, as the dollar gained against other currencies.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent to 7,811.90. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4 per cent to 2,737.57. A top Japanese finance official expressed reservations about the recent surge in the US dollar against the Japanese yen, fuelling speculation about possible intervention in the market.