World shares mixed as China targets growth in 2019

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press</span>
Published Tuesday, March 5, 2019 4:34AM EST
Last Updated Tuesday, March 5, 2019 4:51AM EST

BANGKOK -- World shares were mixed Tuesday after an overnight sell-off on Wall Street, with European benchmarks opening higher. But markets in China gained after the government set a 6-6.5 per cent growth target for this year, suggesting strong government support for the economy.

Germany's DAX gained 0.2 per cent to 11,618.33 while the CAC 40 in France added 0.1 per cent to 5,294.10. Britain's FTSE climbed 0.4 per cent to 7,159.34.

Wall Street looked set for a recovery, with the future contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.2 per cent at 25,865.00. That for the S&P 500 was also up 0.2 per cent, at 2,797.10.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.9 per cent to 3,054.25, while the benchmark in Shenzhen, a smaller, more domestic-oriented market jumped 2.3 per cent after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the annual session of the country's rubber-stamp parliament that the government was setting the growth target close to last year's 6.6 per cent growth. That was a three-decade low, but the target shows official determination to shore up the cooling economy and prevent politically hazardous job losses.

The slight reduction in the target was "an acknowledgement that the economy is slowing, though growth of 6 per cent or above remains faster than what we think is achievable in practice," Julian Evans-Pritchard, and Chang Liu of Capital Economics said in a commentary.

"Our forecasts for growth to stabilise later this year assume that some further policy support is forthcoming. Today's work report suggests it is," it said.

But elsewhere in Asia, the focus was mainly on an absence of news of fresh progress in China-U.S. trade talks. The upward momentum from Monday has faded as investors grow impatient for more details on reports that the U.S. and China are moving closer to a deal to resolve their costly trade dispute.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.4 per cent to 21,726.28. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.5 per cent to 2,179.23. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat, at 28,961.60.

Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent after the central bank opted to keep its key policy rate at 1.5 per cent. Shares fell in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.

The world's two largest economies have pulled back from an immediate escalation of their damaging trade war, with President Donald Trump postponing a deadline for raising tariffs on more Chinese goods and media reports saying the nations could strike a deal this month.

Investors have been hoping for a resolution in the long-running trade dispute between the world's biggest economies over U.S. claims that Beijing is stealing technology and forcing companies to turn over their know-how and trade secrets in order to do business.

ENERGY: U.S. crude lost 43 cents to $56.16 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 1.4 per cent Monday to settle at $56.59 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 46 cents to $65.21 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 111.95 yen from 111.74 yen on Monday. The euro weakened to $1.1329 from $1.1341.

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