Global markets mostly advance, with Japan's market inching to another record

Tokyo, Oct 7 (AP) Global shares were mostly higher on Tuesday, and Japan’s benchmark inched up just a few points to a new record.

France’s CAC 40 edged 0.1 per cent higher, to 7,978.27, as investors snapped up bargains following losses a day earlier after its prime minister abruptly resigned on Monday.

The resignation was the fourth in more than a year of almost ceaseless political upheaval for French President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

Germany’s DAX fell less than 0.1 per cent to 24,369.34. Britain’s FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 9,478.51.

Many Asian markets were closed for holidays on Tuesday, including those in mainland China and Hong Kong. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose just 6 points to 47,950.88, giving up nearly all of its earlier gains

after jumping almost 5 per cent to a record close on Monday.

Investors piled in after Japan’s ruling party chose conservative Sanae Takaichi as its leader, virtually ensuring she will become the country’s first female prime minister.

Takaichi, an admirer of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is expected to push for market-boosting policies similar to those he championed.

But the ruling Liberal Democrats need coalition partners to stay in power, and it’s unclear how aggressively Takaichi can push her agenda to boost Japan out of its economic doldrums while facing resistance from within her own party as well as the opposition.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 per cent to 8,956.80.

Taiwan’s benchmark jumped 1.7 per cent, helped by heavy buying of AI-related shares, while India’s Sensex added 0.3 per cent. Shares in most Southeast Asian markets also climbed.

On Monday. Wall Street kept setting more records, buoyed by enthusiasm over artificial intelligence.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4 per cent to set an all-time high, closing at 6,740.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 per cent to 46,694.97, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.7 per cent to its own record, ending at 22,941.67.

The frenzy around AI is a key reason Wall Street has been hitting record after record, though that’s also raising worries that prices have potentially shot too high. Much of the furore around AI in the last couple of weeks has come from OpenAI, which has quickly grown into a USD 500 billion company. It’s been announcing deals with businesses around the world to develop more AI infrastructure.

Another chip company, Nvidia, announced a deal last month where it would invest USD 100 billion in OpenAI as part of a partnership, creating criticism that the AI investment pipeline was beginning to appear like a circle. It’s the most valuable stock on Wall Street.

In other dealings early Tuesday, benchmark US crude fell 24 cents to USD 61.45 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 22 cents to USD 65.25 a barrel.

The US dollar climbed to 150.78 Japanese yen from 150.35 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1664, down from USD 1.1714. (AP) SKS SKS