Global shares down, Japan stimulus fails to lift sentiment

Written by M.R. Faith on

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A Filipino trader uses a calculator at the Philippine Stock Exchange in the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Thursday, July 28, 2016. Asian stock benchmarks were mostly lower Thursday as investors digested an upbeat Fed assessment of the U.S. economy that raised the prospect of further rate hikes, while anticipating more stimulus from Japan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
A Filipino trader uses a calculator at the Philippine Stock Exchange in the financial district of Makati, south of Manila, Philippines on Thursday, July 28, 2016. Asian stock benchmarks were mostly lower Thursday as investors digested an upbeat Fed assessment of the U.S. economy that raised the prospect of further rate hikes, while anticipating more stimulus from Japan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Global shares were mostly lower Tuesday, as a Japanese stimulus package and a decision by Australia’s central bank to cut its key interest rate failed to lift sentiment. The recent decline in oil prices also weighed on trading.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent to 6,667.31. Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 percent to 10,190.80 and France’s CAC 40 was 1.4 percent lower at 4,345.95. U.S. futures also indicated a lower opening on Wall Street, with Dow and S&P futures both down 0.2 percent.

JAPAN STIMULUS PACKAGE: Japan’s Cabinet approved a fresh economic stimulus package on Tuesday worth more than 28 trillion yen ($275 billion), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest effort to get the stalling recovery back on track. The package aims to raise Japan’s GDP by 1.3 percent, but economists said the amount of actual public spending was only about a quarter of the total.

AUSTRALIAN RATE CUT: The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record-low 1.5 percent on Tuesday, seeking to jolt the nation’s sluggish economy amid low inflation rates. The board last cut rates in May, and economists had largely predicted Tuesday’s cut.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Of course, with rates already at a record low and household data high, monetary policy isn’t as powerful as before,” Paul Dales of Capital Economics said in an analysis of the Australian rate cut.

ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.5 percent to 16,391.45 as the yen rallied against the dollar. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 slid 0.8 percent to 5,540.50. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5 percent to 2,019.70. China’s Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.6 percent to 2,971.28 and India’s Sensex shed early gains, losing 0.1 percent to 27,977.10. Most Southeast Asian markets fell. Hong Kong’s stock market was closed due to a typhoon

OIL: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 53 cents to $40.59 after settling at $40.06 a barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, rose 64 cents to $42.78 a barrel in London, after closing at $42.14 a barrel the day before. As of Monday, the price of oil had fallen 13 percent in a little more than two weeks.

CURRENCIES: The dollar fell to 101.78 yen from 102.39 the previous day. The euro rose to $1.1193 from $1.1166 on Monday.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.