Advertisement

Global shares turn higher as investors look to G-20 meeting

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were turned higher on Wednesday as investors await developments in trade friction between the U.S. and China at the Group of 20 meeting of major economies in Japan later in the week.

France's CAC 40 was up 0.1% in midday trading, at 5,518. Germany's DAX was up 0.4% at 12,280 and Britain's FTSE 100 inched nearly 0.1% higher to 7,427.

U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow and S&P 500 futures both adding 0.4%.

Asian markets closed lower earlier. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.5% to finish at 21,086.59, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% to 6,640.50. South Korea's Kospi stood virtually unchanged at 2,121.85. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 28,221.98, while the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2% to 2,976.28.

Trade policy remains the biggest source of uncertainty looming over the market. Investors are worried about the trade dispute between the U.S. and China and its potential impact on global economic growth and corporate profits.

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping will meet this week at the G-20 summit. The world's two largest economies spent much of the current quarter escalating their trade war and giving global markets jitters over prospects for economic growth.

"To a large extent, any further deterioration in trade relations is expected to guide expectations here so the focus remains up ahead with the G-20," said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore.

How the trade war develops could affect whether central banks move in to support the economy. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell this week noted that the economic outlook has become cloudier since early May amid uncertainty over trade and global growth. The Fed and the European Central Bank have indicated they are open to cutting interest rates if needed.

ENERGY: Benchmark crude oil rose $1.07 to $58.90 a barrel amid worries about tensions in the Middle East, centered around concerns about Iran, and industry data that showed a decrease in U.S. crude oil inventories. It fell 7 cents to settle at $57.83 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 75 cents to $65.03 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose slightly to 107.71 yen from 107.03 yen on Tuesday. The euro weakened to $1.1367 from $1.1381.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yurikageyama/?hl=en