European shares rise after Asian benchmarks finish mostly lower
[September 03, 2025] By
YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly declined, with cautious trading on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange amid political uncertainty, but European shares
edged up in early Wednesday trading.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% in early trading to 7,701.41, while the German
DAX edged up 0.4% to 23,576.33. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.4% to
9,152.13. U.S. shares were set to trade mixed with Dow futures down 0.1%
at 45,301.00, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% to 6,449.50.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed nearly 0.9% to finish
at 41,938.89.
The fate of Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been uncertain
for weeks, with calls growing both for him to resign and to remain,
after a recent election defeat and the rise of fringe parties shook
public faith in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Confidence was
rocked further by a recent comment from Ishiba's ally, Hiroshi Moriyama,
who said he was stepping down as party secretary general.
“The political tremor is domestic, with Prime Minister Ishiba’s key
power broker signaling his resignation, shaking the foundations of the
ruling party,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset
Management.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 slipped 1.8% to 8,738.80. South Korea’s Kospi
edged up 0.4% to 3,184.42. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6% to 25,343.43.
The Shanghai Composite shed 1.2% to 3,813.56.
In the United States, longer-term Treasury yields are feeling additional
pressure from President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve
for not cutting interest rates sooner. The fear is that a less
independent Fed will be less likely to make the unpopular decisions
needed to keep inflation under control over the long term, such as
keeping short-term rates higher than investors would like.
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A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's
Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in
Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
 A U.S. federal appeals court ruled
late Friday that Trump overstepped his legal authority when
announcing sweeping tariffs on almost every country, though it left
the tariffs in place for now. Trump’s tariffs have created confusion
across the global economy and may have hurt the U.S. job market. But
less income from them could also force the U.S. government to borrow
more to pay its bills, according to Scott Wren, senior global market
strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
The worse-than-expected data on manufacturing could give the Federal
Reserve more leeway to cut its main interest rate for the first time
this year at its next meeting in a couple of weeks. That’s the
widespread expectation among traders, though economic reports coming
later this week could change things.
The highlight for the week is coming on Friday, when economists
expect a report to show that U.S. employers upped their hiring last
month. Last month’s weaker-than-expected jobs report raised worries
about the economy and cranked up expectations for coming rate cuts
by the Fed.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 36 cents to $65.23 a
barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 37 cents to
$68.77 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 148.65 Japanese yen
from 148.34 yen. The euro cost $1.1660, up from $1.1646.
___
AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
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