Global shares meander following mixed cues from Wall Street
TOKYO - Global shares were mostly higher Thursday after a reversal of losses on Wall Street, except for indexes in China, where economic growth worries lurked.
France's CAC 40 added 1.6 percent to 4,222.41 in early trading, while Germany's DAX rose 0.7 percent to 9,233.25. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 1.6 percent to 5,959.28.
U.S. shares were set to open higher, with Dow and broader S&P 500 futures up 0.3 percent.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 6.4 percent to 2,741.25, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong dipped 1.6 percent to 18,888.75. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index gained 1.4 percent to finish at 16,140.34 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 1,918.57. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.1 percent to 4,881.20. Shares rose in Taiwan, Indonesia and New Zealand.
"Despite the tenuous theoretical link between supply side-driven lower oil prices and weakening share markets, they again moved in lock step overnight," said Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets. "Oil reversed a 4 percent drop to move 1 percent higher, and stocks followed."
U.S. crude oil slipped 2 cents to $32.13 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed up 28 cents at $32.15 a barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude oil, which is used to price oil internationally, fell 75 cents to $33.66.
The dollar rose to 112.28 yen from 112.08 yen in the previous day's trading. The euro inched up to $1.1023 from $1.1011.