Stock market today: World shares are mostly higher after Wall Street's
rally
[March 03, 2025] By
ELAINE KURTENBACH
BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Europe and Asia on Monday,
helped by strong Chinese factory data, following Friday’s rally on Wall
Street.
Germany's DAX added 0.5% to 22,658.00, while the CAC 40 in Paris was up
less than 0.1% at 8,115,97.
Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 8,835.96.
The future for the S&P 500 was nearly unchanged while that for the Dow
Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.
In Asian trading, Chinese bubble tea chain Mixue Bingcheng’s shares
soared 43% in Hong Kong after its $444 million IPO. Local reports said
it set a local record for subscriptions, which exceeded 1 trillion Hong
Kong dollars ($128 billion). The company claims to be the world's
largest food retail chain, with more than 45,000 outlets.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 23,006.27.
The Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.1% to 3,316.93 despite upbeat
Chinese factory data, as sharply higher tariffs on U.S. imports of
Chinese goods looked set to take effect on Tuesday.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.7% to 37,785.47.
South Korean markets were closed for a holiday, while the S&P/ASX 200 in
Australia gained 0.9% to 8,245.70.
Taiwan's Taiex sank 1.3%, while in Bangkok, the SET fell 1.3%.
Surveys of Chinese factory managers showed signs of improvement in
February as new orders rose, likely driven by companies moving quickly
to beat rising tariffs on exports to the United States, where the
administration of President Donald Trump has boosted import duties on
Chinese goods to 20%, effective Tuesday.
A report by the Communist Party newspaper Global Times said China was
considering retaliatory moves, including higher tariffs on U.S. exports
of food and other agricultural goods.
On Friday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.6 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
gained 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.6% to 18,847.28.
The S&P 500 had dropped in five of the prior six days after
weaker-than-expected reports on the economy and worries about President
Donald Trump’s tariffs knocked the index off its all-time high set last
week.
Stocks that flew in the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology
have slumped sharply and Bitcoin dropped more than 20% from its record.
[to top of second column] |
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Tokyo.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 On Friday, Nvidia rose 4% following
its 8.5% tumble Thursday and was the strongest force lifting the S&P
500.
Stocks rose following an economic report that included both
positives and negatives. Inflation across the country cooled a bit
as economists had expected, according to the measure that the
Federal Reserve prefers to use. That's good news for the entire
market because it could give the central bank leeway to continue
cutting its main interest rate at some point later this year.
The Fed has been keeping rates on hold so far this year after
cutting them sharply late last year, in large part because of
concerns about inflation, which is still high, even if it’s not as
bad as its peak in 2022. A widespread worry is that increased
tariffs and other policies announced by Trump could push prices for
the cost of living even higher.
Friday's report also said U.S. households pulled back on their
spending during January, likely undermining a major engine that has
been staving off a recession despite high interest rates.
Much of January’s drop in spending by U.S. households could have
been the simple result of painfully cold weather around the country
and other anomalies. But it also followed several signals of slowing
growth for the U.S. economy, which closed 2024 running at a solid
pace.
In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 39
cents to $69.37 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international
standard, declined 33 cents to $72.48 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 149.99 Japanese yen from 150.72 yen. The
euro rose to $1.0414 from $1.0402.
Early Monday, Bitcoin was trading at $91,700 after trading around
$84,000 on Friday.
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