Global stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday despite weaker Chinese economic data after Wall Street’s spurt on higher oil prices.
KEEPING SCORE: London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent to 7,476.65 and Germany’s DAX was unchanged at 12,811.81. France’s CAC-40 lost 0.4 percent to 5,395.75. On Monday, the DAX and FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent while the CAC-40 gained 0.2 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index were unchanged.
ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.7 percent at 3,112.96 after spending most of the day in negative territory. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent to 19,919.82 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 advanced 0.2 percent to 5,850.50. India’s Sensex gained 0.6 percent to 30,504.21 and Seoul’s Kospi added 0.2 percent to 2,295.33. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent to 25,335.94. Benchmarks in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines gained while New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore declined.
WEAKENING CHINA: Government data showed growth in industrial activity, credit, investment and housing sector activity decelerated in April. That added to indications growth in the world’s second-largest economy peaked in the first quarter and is declining. Chinese leaders are tightening access to credit to reduce reliance on debt and investment but April’s downturn was sharper than forecast.
ANALYST’S COMMENT: China’s April data are in line with expectations of a “steady downward glide in growth rates in the remainder of 2017,” Brian Jackson of IHS Markit said ‘in a report. Beijing is likely to try to stimulate growth to hit its 6.5 percent growth target in a year when the ruling Communist Party is due to hold a sensitive reshuffling of its leadership, Jackson said. Still, he said, “despite China’s increasing stimulative efforts, domestic growth momentum will remain downward in the second quarter and beyond.”
WALL STREET: Energy stocks rose on higher oil prices, pushing the U.S. market back to record highs. Oil-producing countries have cut production in hopes of supporting oil prices, and Russia and Saudi Arabia said they want to extend the cuts through the first three months of 2018. Oilfield services provider Halliburton rose 3 percent for one of the day’s biggest gains in the S&P 500. Energy companies across the index rose 0.6 percent. Companies that produce metals and other basic materials, along with financial stocks, were also strong.
GROWING THAILAND: Official data showed the Thai economy grew 3.3 percent over a year earlier in the first quarter, beating forecasts. Growth, the fastest since the second quarter of 2013, was driven by strong exports, sales of vehicles and other durable goods and a rebound in the key tourism industry.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 40 cents to $49.25 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract soared $1.01 on Monday to close at $48.85. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 38 cents to $52.20 in London. It gained 98 cents on Monday.
CURRENCY: The dollar declined to 113.60 yen from Monday’s 113.79 yen. The euro gained to $1.1041 from $1.0975.
