Manila, Aug 8 (AP) World shares were mixed on Friday, with Asian stocks mostly lower while Tokyo’s benchmark spiked more than 2 per cent after Japanese officials said they had resolved questions over the tariff that will apply to exports to the US.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX lost 0.3 per cent to 24,131.01. The CAC 40 in Paris added 0.3 per cent to 7,730.40, while Britain’s FTSE 100 edged less than 0.1 per cent lower to 9,094.65.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.3 per cent, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1 per cent.

New US tariffs on Japanese goods that took effect Thursday did not match an agreement between Washington and Tokyo on a 15 per cent level, and Japan’s main trade envoy said the US side had agreed to correct the problem.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo rose 2.2 per cent but later trimmed some of its gains, adding 1.9 per cent to 41,820.48. Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 3.5 per cent and Honda Motor Co. was up 4 per cent. Automakers are among the manufacturers with the most at stake regarding exports to the US.

Elsewhere in Asia, most markets slipped following declines on Wall Street.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.9 per cent to 24,858.82, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1 per cent to 3,635.13.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6 per cent to 3,210,01. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 per cent to 8,807.10.

Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.1 per cent, and the Sensex in India was down 0.8 per cent.

“We’re heading into a stretch where markets will punish certainty. The momentum winds are shapeshifters—what looks like a slam dunk on Monday can turn into a face plant by Friday,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 edged 0.1 per cent lower and the Dow industrials dipped 0.5 per cent. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3 per cent to a record as shares in Apple and some computer chip makers soared.

Intel sank 3.1 per cent after Trump said its CEO should resign, accusing him of being “highly CONFLICTED,” though he gave no evidence.

But Apple rose 3.2 per cent after its CEO Tim Cook joined Trump at the White House on Wednesday to say it’s increasing its investment in US manufacturing by an additional USD 100 billion over the next four years.

Computer chip makers with big investments or manufacturing capacity in the US surged higher after Trump ordered 100 per cent tariffs on imported semiconductors, but said companies with big US investments would be exempt. Shares in Advanced Micro Devices jumped 5.7 per cent, and Nvidia gained 0.8 per cent.

A worse-than-expected report on the US jobs market last week added to worries that President Donald Trump’s tariffs are damaging the economy. But hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a torrent of stronger-than-expected profit reports from big US companies are helping to offset those concerns.

Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher at a time when tariffs are also pushing prices up.

The Bank of England cut its main interest rate on Thursday in hopes of bolstering the sluggish UK economy.

In other dealings on Friday, US benchmark crude oil gained 16 cents to USD 64.04 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was up 19 cents at USD 66.61 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 147.66 Japanese yen from 147.13 yen. The euro slipped to USD 1.1639 from USD 1.1667. (AP) SKS GSP

Category: Breaking News

SEO Tags: #swadesi, #News, World shares are mixed as Tokyo’s Nikkei jumps nearly 2 per cent on tariff news