TOKYO — Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors digested the outcome of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 was down 0.2 per cent to 5,461, while Germany’s DAX was flat at 12,838. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.3 per cent 7,712. U.S. shares were set to drift lower, with Dow futures down 0.2 per cent and S&P 500 futures 0.1 per cent lower.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.3 per cent to finish at 22,878.35. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.2 per cent at 6,054.40. South Korea’s Kospi fell less than 0.1 per cent to 2,468.83 after fluctuating earlier. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng’s rose 0.1 per cent to 31,103.06, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.9 per cent to 3,079.80.
SUMMIT WATCH: Trump and Kim concluded their summit by signing a joint document in which they committed to working “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” and to joining together “to build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula. The broad promises largely reiterated past agreements and included a commitment to “establish new U.S.-DPRK relations” but not an agreement to end the technical state of war.
ANALYST’S TAKE: “Deal or no deal? Just don’t ask what comprises a ‘deal’ and we are fine. At the risk of sounding a tad frivolous, that appears to be the truth of the matter,” said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in Singapore of the Trump-Kim summit.
CENTRAL BANKS: The Federal Reserve will start a two-day meeting on interest rates on Tuesday, wrapping up on Wednesday. Investors expect the central bank to raise its benchmark rate by a quarter point to a range of 1.75-2 per cent, but most attention will be on how many rate hikes Fed officials are considering doing later this year. On Thursday, the European Central Bank will meet and could outline an end to its stimulus program, while on Friday the Bank of Japan is due to give its latest policy update.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 19 cents to $66.29 a barrel. It was up 36 cents to $66.10 per barrel Monday in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 25 cents to $76.71 per barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.22 yen from 109.48 yen late Monday in Asia. The euro edged down to $1.1786 from $1.1799.