TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mostly higher Thursday, after Wall Street’s big recent rally lost some momentum following a pair of potentially discouraging reports on the American economy.
France's CAC 40 added 0.3% in early trading to 7,826.43, while the German DAX rose 0.5% to 24,378.64. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 8,811.29. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%. The future for the S&P 500 gained nearly 0.1%.
In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.5% to finish at 37,554.49, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed at 8,538.90.
In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 1.5% to 2,812.05 after the country's new president and leading liberal politician Lee Jae-myung began his term, vowing to restart talks with North Korea and beef up a trilateral partnership with the U.S. and Japan.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.1% to 23,906.97, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.21% to 3,384.10.
One report released earlier this week said that activity contracted for U.S. retailers, finance companies and other businesses in the services industries last month, when economists were expecting to see growth. Businesses told the Institute for Supply Management in its survey that all the uncertainty created by tariffs is making it difficult for them to forecast and plan.
A second report from ADP suggested U.S. employers outside of the government hired far fewer workers last month than economists expected. That could bode ill for Friday’s more comprehensive jobs report coming from the U.S. Labor Department, which is one of Wall Street’s most anticipated data releases each month.
So far, the U.S. job market has remained remarkably resilient despite years of high inflation and now the threat of President Donald Trump’s high tariffs. But weakness there could undermine the rest of the economy.
Following the reports, traders built up bets that the Federal Reserve will need to cut interest rates later this year in order to prop up the economy, which in turn caused the fall for Treasury yields. The weaker-than-expected ADP report also led Trump to urge Fed Chair Jerome Powell to deliver cuts to rates more quickly.
“‘Too Late’ Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “He is unbelievable!!!”
The Fed has yet to cut interest rates this year after slashing them through the end of 2024. Part of the reason for the pause is that the Fed wants to see how much Trump’s tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation. While lower interest rates could boost the economy, they could also give inflation more fuel.
Investors are hoping for deals that will lower Trump's tariffs. But nothing is assured. The European Union’s top trade negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, met Wednesday with his American counterpart, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
In other dealings early Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude fell 14 cents to $62.71 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, edged down 4 cents to $64.82 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 143.27 Japanese yen from 142.78 yen. The euro cost $1.1413, little changed from $1.1418.