TOKYO Global shares were mixed in cautious trading Friday as investors studied fresh data out of China showing that its recovery remains subdued.
Shares were on the decline in early European trading after Asian benchmarks finished mostly higher.
France’s CAC 40 dropped more than 2.0% in early trading to 4,939.72, while Germany’s DAX slipped 1.2% to 12,840.34. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 2.4% to 6,040.21. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.7% at 27,634. S&P 500 futures fell 0.4% to 3,353.12
China reported its factory output rose 4.8% from a year earlier in July, on a par with Junes increase. Retail sales fell 1.1%, as consumers remain cautious.
Malaysia reported, meanwhile, that its economy contracted at a real annual rate of 16.5% in April-June, its worst downturn on record. The Malaysian central bank forecast that the economy will return to growth in 2021.
Widespread worries persist about a second, or third, surge in coronavirus cases in many places. Another afternoon fade for stocks left most benchmarks on Wall Street lower.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained nearly 0.2% to finish at 23,289.36. South Korea’s Kospi slipped 1.2% to 2,407.49. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.6% to 6,126.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gyrated earlier in the day but lost 0.2% to 25,183.01, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 1.2% to 3,360.10.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China are also on investors’ minds as so much of Asian regional growth depends on exports to those giant economies.
The two sides are due to hold talks online later Friday on a trade deal reached in January that brought a truce in their bruising tariff war.
U.S. retail sales, production and productivity data are expected later in the day.
Benchmark U.S. crude lost 28 cents to $41.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 43 cents to $42.24 per barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 18 cents to $45.14 a barrel.
The dollar fell to 106.77 Japanese yen from 106.95 yen. The euro fell to $1.1806 from $1.1815.
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