World shares mixed after Trump’s speech
1%
Rise in the Sensex in India to 36,975.23
bangkok — Stocks fell in European trading on Wednesday, after gains in much of Asia, as investors digested US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress.
While the address raised no new concerns, Trump reiterated his determination to protect American jobs and get China to make structural changes to its economy to help curb its trade surplus with the US.
British Prime Minister Theresa May was due to meet with major political parties in Northern Ireland in a bid to end an impasse over her proposal for Britain’s departure from the European Union.
Germany’s DAX dropped 0.3 per cent to 11,330 and the FTSE 100 in Britain lost 0.2 per cent to 7,162. The CAC 40 in France slipped 0.2 per cent to 5,075.
Wall Street looked likely to get a slow start, with the future contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1 per cent at 25,288.00 and that for the S&P 500 also down 0.1 per cent, at 2,727.25.
Asian benchmarks were higher, though most regional markets remained closed for the lunar new year holidays.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.1 per cent to 20,874.06. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 rose 0.3 per cent, helped by buying of banks’ shares, to 6,026.10, while the Sensex in India jumped 1 per cent to 36,975.23. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and most of Southeast Asia were closed for lunar new year holidays.
Positive sentiment was supported by reports from Washington, citing unnamed sources, that say US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin plan to travel to Beijing next week for the next round of talks aimed at resolving trade and technologyrelated disputes that have led to both sides imposing tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of each other’s products.
The dollar slipped to 109.65 yen from 109.96 yen on Tuesday. The euro weakened versus the dollar to $1.1395 from $1.1405.