World shares are mixed as US Senate votes to end government shutdown

BANGKOK: Shares advanced in Europe on Tuesday after a retreat in Asia, as investors took the latest step toward ending the US government shutdown in stride.

Markets showed little reaction after the Senate passed legislation to reopen the government.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1 per cent lower.

In Germany, the DAX rose 0.2 per cent to 24,015.97, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.7 per cent to 8,109.23. Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 1 per cent to 9,887.95.

Shares have been bouncing on criticism that tech share prices have shot too high due to the mania for artificial intelligence, which some have likened to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst. Investors are also betting on the potential for an end to the shutdown and for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.

“Sentiment is everything,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary. “It's how investors perceive the news: if they're in a good mood, they interpret it positively; if they're in a bad mood, they see it negatively. One picture, one word, one data point is enough to twist and turn the market mood.”

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.1 per cent to 50,842.93.

Shares in technology giant SoftBank Group Corp. fell 2 per cent. The company announced after trading closed that it had sold all its stake in artificial intelligence chip maker Nvidia last month for USD 5.83 billion.

The US dollar climbed to 154.37 against the Japanese yen, up from 154.14 yen and near its highest level since February. Expectations that the government will push back its schedule for trimming Japan's huge national debt, boosting spending, have helped to weaken the yen.

The euro fell to USD 1.1557 from USD 1.1558.

Chinese shares ended mixed. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index rallied late in the day to gain 0.2 per cent, closing at 26,696.41, and the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.4 per cent to 4,002.76.

South Korea's Kospi, recovering from last week's sell-off, closed 0.8 per cent higher at 4,106.39.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2 per cent to 8,818.80.

Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.3 per cent, while the Sensex in India climbed 0.4 per cent.

On Monday, Big Tech and other superstars of the US stock market got back to rallying, and Wall Street recovered most of its loss from last week.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.5 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent. The Nasdaq composite rallied 2.3 per cent.

Nvidia was by far the strongest force lifting the market and leapt 5.8 per cent. It was a powerful rebound after Nvidia and other winners of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology led last week's drop. Critics say their stock prices shot too high and too fast in the AI mania, drawing comparisons to the 2000 dot-com bubble that ultimately burst.

Drops for several health insurers helped keep the market's gains in check. They feel that uncertainty remains about whether Washington will extend expiring health care tax credits, a sticking point on Capitol Hill that's created the longest-ever shutdown for the US government.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Berkshire Hathaway slipped 0.4 per cent as its CEO, famed investor Warren Buffett, warned shareholders that many other companies will fare better in the decades ahead because of Berkshire Hathaway's massive size. Buffett, 95, is set to step down in January.

Roughly four out of every five companies in the S&P 500 that have so far reported their results for the summer have also topped analysts' profit expectations, according to FactSet. Companies usually beat analysts' estimates each quarter, but the pressure was high this time around because they needed to justify the big moves upward for their stock prices since April.

Delivering bigger profits is one of the easier ways companies can quiet criticism that their stock prices have become too expensive.

In other dealings early Tuesday, US benchmark crude oil lost 31 cents to USD 59.82 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 29 cents to USD 63.77 per barrel.