HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed and U.S. futures edged lower Tuesday ahead of an update on U.S. consumer prices.
In early European trading, the FTSE 100 in London edged up less than 1% to 10,144.50. Germany’s DAX fell 0.2% to 25,356.32, while the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.5% to 8,316.63.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2%.
Later Tuesday, the U.S. Labor Department was due to report consumer inflation
in December. It is expected to say consumer prices rose 2.6% in December compared with a year earlier, according to economists’ estimates compiled by data provider FactSet.
Inflation likely remained elevated last month as the cost of electricity, groceries, and clothing may have jumped and continued to pressure consumers’ wallets.
Asian shares mostly gained led by a rally in Japan. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.1% to 53,549.16 at close, a record. Technology-related stocks helped lift the benchmark. Compute chip testing equipment maker Advantest surged 8.5%. Chip maker Tokyo Electron jumped 8.2% and SoftBank Group rose 4.3%.
The dollar rose to 158.92 yen, up from 158.07 yen. The dollar has been trading near its highest level against in the yen in more than a year on what market watchers call the “Takaichi trade” for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office in October.
Takaichi is expected to try to capitalize on her relatively high public ratings to call a snap election, hoping to strengthen her mandate for higher government spending. That has led to a weakening in the yen.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.9% to 26,848.47. Shares of China-based chip designer GigaDevice Semiconductor jumped as much as 54% in the company’s Hong Kong trading debut. The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.6% to 4,138.76.
South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.5% higher at 4,692.64 at close, also a record.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained nearly 0.6% to 8,808.50. Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.5%, while the Sensex in India lost almost 0.3%.
On Monday, concern over the potential consequences of a weakening of the Federal Reserve's independence in setting interest rates appeared to be offset by investors' expectations that President Donald Trump may prevail in pushing the central bank to cut rates at a faster pace. Lower interest rates mean cheap credit and tend to fuel stronger stock prices.
Tensions between Trump and Fed Chair Jerome Powell escalated after the Department of Justice subpoenaed the Fed and threatened a criminal indictment over Powell's testimony regarding building renovations at the central bank's headquarters.
The S&P 500 gained almost 0.2% Monday to 6,977.27, a new record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also edged up 0.2%, to 49,590.20, for its own record. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3% to 23,733.90.
Trump has repeatedly called for the Fed to further lower interest rates and reduce borrowing costs for households and companies, even as the Fed did cut rates three times in 2025. The White House said Monday that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell.
Alphabet, Google’s parent, gained 1% on Monday, taking its market value to more than $4 trillion, after Apple said it would use Google’s Gemini to help smarten up virtual assistant Siri in a new deal.
Credit card companies led losses after Trump said he wanted a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, which could eat into the profits of these companies. Synchrony Financial dipped 8.4%, Capital One Financial fell 6.4% and American Express edged down 4.3%.
In other dealings early Tuesday, the price of gold dipped 0.5% and the price of silver picked up 0.4%.
The euro edged up $1.1669 from $1.1667.
