Global markets were mixed Thursday, with Asian indexes struggling despite good economic news from China.
Japan’s Nikkei index closed 0.2 percent higher, while the TSEC 50 in Taipei finished 0.6 percent higher. The indexes in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Sydney were all in negative territory, with investors apparently unmoved by Beijing’s announcement that exports rose 3.5 percent from a year earlier, a further sign the world’s economy is slowly recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, European markets were trending upward, with the FTSE in London up 0.4 percent by mid-morning, the CAC-40 in Paris trading 0.5 percent higher and the DAX in Frankfurt up 0.7 percent.
Oil markets were also making gains Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, selling at $24.08 per barrel, up 0.3 percent, while the international benchmark Brent crude trading flat at $29.73 per barrel.
In index futures trading, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all trading well above 1 percent.