HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mostly higher Thursday after Wall Street set more records, as investors closely monitored takeaways from U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Trump met with Xi at the Great Hall of the People and they talked about U.S.-China relations and Taiwan, but analysts did not expect major breakthroughs.
U.S. futures edged higher.
In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up
0.3% to 10,351.36, after the U.K. reported its economy expanded at a faster-than-expected pace at 0.3% for March despite impacts from the war in Iran. France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 8,057.64, and Germany's DAX gained 1.4% to 24,462.22.
In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down 1% to 62,654.05, after briefly reaching another all-time intraday record at above 63,700, partly supported by robust corporate results. South Korea’s Kospi closed 1.8% higher at 7,981.41 at a fresh record helped by technology-related stocks on the artificial intelligence boom.
The Shanghai Composite index lost 1.5% to 4,177.92. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng flatlined at 26,389.04.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.1% to 8,640.70.
Taiwan’s Taiex was up 0.9%, and India’s Sensex climbed 1.1%.
Oil prices were mixed, with no clear ending to the Iran war after more than two months. Some were hoping the Trump-Xi meeting could bring results, after U.S. officials said Beijing could use its close economic ties with Tehran to press Iran to reopen the Strait or Hormuz.
On Thursday, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed enhancing U.S.-China economic cooperation. Both sides also agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must remain open.
Brent crude, the international standard, was up 0.2% at $105.87 per barrel. It was around $70 a barrel before the war in Iran started late February. That also came after the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that supply losses from the strait were “depleting global oil inventories at a record pace.”
Benchmark U.S. crude was down 0.2% to $100.86 per barrel.
Investors are also watching for updates on China’s imports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was confirmed to be a part of Trump’s China trip alongside other top executives including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook. The U.S. business leaders met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, technology stocks led Wall Street gains. The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 7,444.25 and reached another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.1% to 49,693.20, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 1.2% to 26,402.34 and set its own record.
In other dealings, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.46% from 4.47% though still significantly above around 3.97% from before the Iran war began.
A report Wednesday showed that U.S. wholesale prices surged in April, fueled by impacts from the Iran war-caused energy shock. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate also confirmed Kevin Warsh, Trump’s nominee, to lead the Federal Reserve. He would be take over from Jerome Powell, who had been criticized by Trump repeatedly for not cutting rates faster or deeper.
The U.S. dollar rose to 157.91 Japanese yen from 157.86 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1709, down from $1.1711.
