World stock markets mostly shrug off Crimea vote

HONG KONG - World stocks drifted Monday as investors largely shrugged off a weekend vote in which Crimeans opted to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

Safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen got a boost after results showed an overwhelming number of voters in the Ukrainian region approved splitting off and joining Russia in Sunday's vote.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX edged up less than 0.1 percent to 9,062.63 while France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent to 4,224.13. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent to 6,537.59.

U.S. stocks were poised to rise. Dow futures and S&P 500 futures were both up 0.7 percent.

Asian markets ended the day mixed. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent to close at 14,277.67 as the yen gained.

"If there are signs of Russian influence extending beyond Crimea, expect risk aversion to reverberate," said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in Singapore, adding that "safety bolts" such as yen, gold, Swiss francs and U.S. Treasurys will also gain.

The dollar, which has lost about 1.4 percent against the yen in the past week, was trading at 101.78 yen compared with 101.30 yen late Friday. A stronger yen makes goods from Japanese exporters such as Sony and Canon pricier overseas.

South Korea's Kospi edged up 0.4 percent to 1,927.53 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 0.3 percent to 21,473.95. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.2 percent to 5,317.60.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite rose 1 percent to 2,023.67 after officials announced on the weekend that exchange rate controls would be modestly eased. It was the latest step in an eventual plan to let the yuan float freely.

The dollar rose to 6.1773 yuan, up 0.4 percent from 6.1531 late Friday, and is at the highest since the end of June last year, according to FactSet data. The yuan has reversed course recently after strengthening steadily for years. Analysts believe the central bank is guiding the exchange rate lower against the dollar in an effort to discourage speculators from moving money into the country to profit from the yuan's rise.

Japanese internet company Softbank Corp. surged 5 percent after China's Alibaba, in which it owns a 37 percent stake, confirmed long-awaited plans to move forward with a U.S. stock listing that could value the e-commerce giant at more than $100 billion.

In currencies The euro dipped to $1.3893 from $1.3898.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 20 cents to $98.69 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 69 cents to settle at $98.20 on Friday.