TOKYO — Global shares were mostly higher Tuesday following a rally on Wall Street that was helped by easing oil prices. Regional investors were still weighing the impact from last week’s joint U.S.-Japan currency intervention, analysts said. France’s CAC 40 added 0.3 per cent in early trading to 8,643.50, while the German DAX surged 0.9 per cent to 26,232.04. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up nearly 0.4 per cent to 10,897.75. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.1 per cent at 53,409.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 per cent to 7,644.00. In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3 per cent to finish at 63,957.53, as the U.S. dollar rose to 157.80 Japanese yen from 157.18 yen. The euro cost US$1.1513, inching down from $1.1514. The dollar was trading at 160-yen levels before regulators stepped in to boost the yen’s value after it fell to nearly 40-year lows. Some analysts said the effectiveness of such an intervention remains uncertain as it doesn’t address the fundamental economic reasons behind the currency fluctuations, including inflation, interest rates and the relative strengths of the economies. “A U.S.-backed operation carries far more signaling weight than Tokyo acting alone, and the pledge of further action will give speculators pause. But any U.S. contribution will probably be constrained by size,” a report by BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, said. Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebury, noted the latest effort could have some impact because it appears to signal a real change in monetary policy rather than just a one-time defensive move. “This is an historic and meaningful development for the yen, which materially improves confidence in our mildly bullish call for the currency,” he said. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6 per cent to 6,358.95. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.4 per cent to 9,145.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 per cent to 25,852.92, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3 per cent to 3,822.28. In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude gained 15 cents to $80.49 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 98 cents to $84.75 a barrel. A day earlier, oil prices dropped more than 5 per cent after U.S. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that he had decided to hold off on new strikes against Iran. Brent’s price careened between $72 and $102 last month as worries rose and fell over the war in Iran and when oil tankers would be allowed to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude to customers worldwide. ___ Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.
