Global stock markets mostly higher as US, China hike tariffs

Joe Mcdonald | Associated Press

BEIJING – Global stock markets were mostly higher Thursday after the United States and China imposed new tariff hikes on each other’s goods in an escalation of their battle over Beijing’s technology policy.

KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX gained 0.1 percent to 12,393.12 and London’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.2 percent 7,589.22. France’s CAC 40 picked up 0.3 percent to 5,433.09. On Wednesday, the DAX was flat, while the CAC 40 edged up 0.2 percent and the FTSE 100 added 0.1 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index and Dow Jones industrial average rose less than 0.1 percent.

More: U.S., China to restart trade talks just hours before a new round of tariffs takes effect

ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4 percent 2,724.62 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.2 percent to 22,410.82. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.5 percent to 27,790.46 while Seoul’s Kospi advanced 0.4 percent to 2,282.60. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 fell 0.3 percent to 6,244.40 and India’s Sensex added 0.1 percent to 38,320.19. Benchmarks in Taiwan and Southeast Asia advanced while New Zealand declined.

TRADE WAR: The United States and China imposed 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion of each other’s goods including automobiles, factory equipment and other goods. The increases, previously announced, came as envoys met in Washington for their first high-level talks in two months. Beijing has rejected U.S. demands to scale back technology development plans its trading partners saying violate Chinese market-opening pledges and that American officials worry might erode the United States’ industrial leadership.

WALL STREET: The U.S. bull market became the longest on record on Wednsday after tech stocks and retailers gained while industrial companies declined. The run of 3,453 days without a drop of at least 20 percent, the traditional definition of a bear market, beat the 1990s stretch that ended in the dot-com collapse in 2000.

CENTRAL BANK WATCH: Central bankers including Jerome Powell of the U.S. Federal Reserve hold an annual gathering starting Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Investors are looking ahead to Powell’s keynote speech for signs of Fed views on Turkey’s currency crisis and U.S.-Chinese trade tensions. If Powell sounds confident, investors would likely conclude the Fed will keep gradually raising rates.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 8 cents to $67.77 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.02 on Wednesday to $67.86. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined 22 cents to $74.57 per barrel in London. It rose $1.15 in the previous session to $74.78.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 110.91 yen from Wednesday’s 110.56 yen. The euro declined to $1.1554 from $1.1595.