World shares mostly climbed on Wednesday, following a choppy trading day on Wall Street as the Trump administration seeks to win more favorable trade deals with nations around the globe.
In early trading, major indexes in Europe were all higher. Germany's DAX added 0.7% to 24,373.05. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher to 8,861.90. France's CAC 40 rose 0.8% to 7,829.04.
The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both 0.1% higher.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 0.3% higher to 39,821.28, while South Korea's Kospi added 0.6% to 3,133.74 as Tokyo and Seoul work on a trade deal with the U.S. before higher tariffs announced by Washington take effect on Aug. 1.
“Sectoral carve-outs remain the thorniest terrain,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management wrote in a commentary, adding that Korea and Japan are likely seeking relief for their car and steel exports. “But Washington is unlikely to bend,” he warned.
Meanwhile, Chinese markets were lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.1% to 23,892.32, while the Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1% to 3,493.05.
Lynn Song, ING's chief economist for greater China, said in a commentary that deflationary pressures remain despite China's June consumer price index inflation returning to positive territory for the first time since January, beating market expectations. Inflation rose to 0.1% year on year from -0% year on year in May, according to data released on Wednesday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.6% to 8,538.60. India's BSE Sensex edged 0.1% higher to 83,722.05.
Mizuho Bank said the tariff deadlines distract from “far more consequential, and expedient, sectoral tariffs, which arguably reverberate across global industrial eco-systems” and that the U.S. aims to isolate China from trade partners, supply chains and markets.
“The real danger is underestimating the fallout when (rather than if) China hits back” against the U.S. and countries it perceives as aligned with the U.S., the bank wrote.
On Wall Street on Tuesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% a day after posting its biggest loss since mid-June. The benchmark index remains near its all-time high set last week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite eked out a gain of less than 0.1%, staying near its own record high.
The sluggish trading came as the market was coming off a broad sell-off following the Trump administration’s decision to impose new import tariffs on more than a dozen nations, which are set to go into effect next month.
