Global shares higher, Japan slips ahead of Abe-Trump summit
TOKYO — Global shares were mostly higher Thursday though Japan’s benchmark skidded as the dollar held steady ahead of meetings between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Donald Trump.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 inched 0.1 per cent higher to 7,195.86 and Germany’s DAX was up 0.2 per cent at 11,570.31. The CAC 40 of France climbed 0.4 per cent to 4,785.55. Wall Street was headed for a tepid start, with both Dow and S&P futures almost unchanged.
ABE-TRUMP SUMMIT MEETING: Trump’s complaints over trade and currency rates worry many in Japan Inc. and Abe hopes to sell him on a job creation and investment package when they meet this week. With Japan’s largest export market at stake, investors are wary of big manufacturers’ shares.
ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The political landscape still dominates sentiment as the Trump administration takes shape and France gears up for an election,” Alex Furber of CMC Markets said in a commentary. “Tonight’s U.S. session may be cautious ahead of key data from China tomorrow morning, followed by U.S. consumer sentiment in the evening.”