Global shares slipped Friday following a drop on Wall Street as the stronger dollar sent Japanese issues lower and the arrest of an executive at Samsung weighed on Korean stocks.
KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 slipped nearly 0.2 percent to 4,892.25 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX fell nearly 0.1 percent to 11,749.78. Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.1 percent to 7,270.48. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures losing 0.1 percent to 20,573. S&P 500 futures were down 0.1 percent at 2,342.80.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.6 percent to finish at 19,234.62. South Korea’s Kospi edged down nearly 0.1 percent to 2,080.58. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell nearly 0.2 percent to 5,805.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.4 percent to 24,008.87, while the Shanghai Composite was also down 0.9 percent at 3,202.08.
THE QUOTE: “The future outlook is clouded by rising political uncertainties and waves of anti-globalization sentiments from the U.S. and Europe. As U.S. reaches full employment and approaches closer to the Fed’s inflation target, a tighter Federal monetary policy is expected to lead to a stronger US dollar in the months ahead. This might worry investors,” says Margaret Yang Yan, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore.
SAMSUNG WOES: A South Korean court approved the arrest of a billionaire heir to Samsung accused of bribery and other related crimes, a stunning development for the nation’s richest family. The news of the arrest of Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman at Samsung Electronics and son of Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee, sent Samsung Electronics stock down by more than 1 percent, although it recovered about half of that drop later in the day.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 9 cents to $53.45 a barrel in New York. It rose 25 cents to settle at $53.36 per barrel Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, added 14 cents to $55.79 a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar fell slightly to 113.40 yen from 113.61 yen late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.0657 from $1.0635.
