Global Shares Mixed As Investors Eye China Virus Crisis

Global shares were mixed Friday as worries deepened about the regional economy and Japan reported higher-than-expected inflation.
     
France's CAC 40 was little changed, inching down less than 0.1 per cent to 6,704.00. Germany's DAX slipped 0.1 per cent to 14,524.48. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 per cent to 7,473.46. The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.2 per cent while that for the Dow industrials was up 0.1 per cent.
     
Investors have their eyes on China's lockdowns and restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus infections, as the direction China takes will have great impact on the rest of Asia.
     
China has been expanding pandemic lockdowns, including in a city where factory workers making Apple's iPhone clashed with police this week, as its number of COVID-19 cases hits a daily record.
     
Across China, the number of new cases reported Thursday was 31,444, the highest since the virus was first detected in late 2019.
     
“Reopening policies have pivoted in China, which will be a gradual process. COVID control measures will vary across cities, but positive top-down approaches will be ongoing,” said Stephen Innes, Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
     
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.4 per cent to finish at 28,283.03. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 per cent to 7,259.50. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.1 per cent to 2,437.86. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.5 per cent to 17,573.58. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.4 per cent to 3,101.69.
     
Data on inflation in Tokyo for November beat analysts' expectations, with the core consumer price index showing a 3.6 per cent rise, the highest in more than four decades.
     
The Federal Reserve and the world's other central banks have been raising interest rates to try to rein in decades-high inflation. But the Bank of Japan has resisted tightening monetary policy, a move that would counter inflationary pressures by discouraging borrowing by businesses and consumers.
     
“With the Bank of Japan being one of the few outliers which has not embarked on a rate-hiking process, the point of pivot will be a key question into next year," Jun Rong Yeap of IG said in a commentary.
     
US markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving, but will be back for a shortened session on Friday.
     
In energy trading, benchmark US crude rose USD 1.08 cents to USD 79.02 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, added 95 cents to USD 86.19 a barrel in London.
     
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 138.83 Japanese yen from 138.58 yen. The euro cost USD 1.0419, inching up from USD 1.0411.