TOKYO — Global shares mostly rose Wednesday, echoing record rallies on Wall Street after the latest update on the job market bolstered hopes the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8 in early trading to 7,809.80. Germany’s DAX edged up 0.6% to 23,856.74. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 9,263.14. U.S. shares were set to be mixed with Dow futures down 0.1% at 45,700.00, while S&P 500 futures gained 0.3% at 6,537.75.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9% to finish at 43,837.67. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 8,830.40. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.7% to 3,314.53.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.0% to 26,200.26, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.1% to 3,812.22. Uncertainty is still in the air over U.S.-China tariff issues as bilateral talks continue.
U.S. President Donald Trump has raised taxes on imports from China, triggering a tit-for-tat tariff war. The U.S. is currently charging an additional 30% tariff on Chinese goods and China is charging a 10% tariff under a de-escalation deal reached in May.
Investors are also watching for the U.S. Federal Reserve possibly cutting its main interest rate for the first time this year at its next meeting in a week, in order to prop up the slowing job market. A report on Tuesday offered the latest signal of weakness, when the U.S. government said its prior count of jobs across the country through March may have been too high by 911,000, or 0.6%.
That was before President Donald Trump shocked the economy and financial markets in April by rolling out tariffs on countries worldwide.
The bet on Wall Street is that such data will convince Fed officials that the job market is the bigger problem now for the economy than the threat of inflation worsening because of Trump’s tariffs. That would push them to cut interest rates, a move that would give the economy a boost but could also send inflation higher.
“The broader narrative is increasingly anchored on expectations that the Fed will deliver a rate cut at next week’s meeting,” said Ahmad Assiri, research strategist at Pepperstone.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 58 cents to $63.21 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 56 cents to $66.95 a barrel.
The rise in oil prices came amid escalation of tensions in the Middle East. Israel struck the headquarters of Hamas’ political leadership in Qatar on Tuesday as the group’s top figures gathered to consider a U.S. proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched up to 147.53 Japanese yen from 147.37 yen. The euro fell to $1.1695 from $1.1714.
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Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama
