Global stocks mixed after Wall Street gain

Joe McDonald, The Associated Press</span>
Published Wednesday, August 29, 2018 7:37AM EDT

BEIJING -- Asian stock markets mostly rose Wednesday while Europe declined in early trading after Wall Street gained on strength in technology and retailing shares.

KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.1 per cent to 12,509.32 and London's FTSE 100 shed 0.7 per cent to 7,564.42. France's CAC 40 was 4 points lower at 5,481.21. On Tuesday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent, CAC 40 gained 0.4 per cent and the DAX added 0.1 per cent. On Wall Street, futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Dow Jones industrial average were unchanged.

ASIA'S DAY: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.1 per cent to 22,848.22 while the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 per cent to 2,769.29. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent to 28,416.44 and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.3 per cent to 2,309.03. Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.7 per cent to 6,352.20 and India's Sensex shed 0.4 per cent to 38,722.93. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Bangkok gained while Singapore retreated.

WALL STREET: The S&P 500 closed at a record. Shoe retailer DSW surged 20.2 per cent after reporting stronger-than-expected results. Apple added 0.8 per cent and chipmaker Qualcomm gained 3.6 per cent. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 per cent while the Dow added 0.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.2 per cent. Energy companies dipped along with oil prices.

NAFTA: Canada's foreign minister said she had a "constructive conversation" with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer about how to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement. Chrystia Freeland arrived in Washington for talks after the Trump administration reached a preliminary deal with Mexico to replace NAFTA. While some experts think stocks could rally if the U.S. and its partners make progress on new trade deals, others say it is unclear how much tensions have harmed stocks.

ANALYST'S QUOTE: "The initial euphoria from the U.S.-Mexico agreement died down" and "mixed views" from Canadian officials gave investors little guidance, Jingyi Pan of IG said in a report. Investors appear to be looking at the Mexico talks "to project how the U.S. administration would likely remain adamant as well in dealing with China that could invite further tensions ahead," said Pan. "One to watch, nevertheless, as more tariffs loom."

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 21 cents to $68.74 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract sank 34 cents on Tuesday to close at $68.53. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 11 cents to $76.40 in London. It shed 21 cents the previous session to $76.29.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 111.21 yen from Tuesday's 111.19. The euro declined to $1.1670 from $1.1696.

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