Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Global shares mostly rose Friday, as investors digested the latest message from the U.S. Federal Reserve on raising short-term interest rates by late 2023.
France's CAC 40 added nearly 0.2% in early trading to 6,677.20, while Germany's DAX lost 0.3% to 15,684.53. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 7,123.80. U.S. shares were set for a slow start, with Dow futures falling less than 0.1% to 33,684.0. The S&P 500 future contract was virtually unchanged at 4,211.88.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost earlier gains and slipped 0.2% to finish at 28,964.08. South Korea's Kospi edged 0.1% higher to 3,267.93. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,368.90. Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.9% to 28,801.27, while the Shanghai Composite declined less than 0.1% to 3,525.10.
The Bank of Japan kept its ultra-lax monetary policy intact, as investors had expected. Wrapping up a two-day meeting, the central bank also extended by six months, until March 2022, a lending program to help companies weather the pandemic.
"Japan's economy has picked up as a trend, although it has remained in a severe situation due to the impact of COVID-19 at home and abroad," the Bank of Japan said in a statement.
The Fed's comments came Wednesday, and global markets had already initially reacted Thursday. But comments about the possibility of slowing the central bank's bond-buying program are rippling through markets. Such support has been a key reason for the stock market's resurgence to records.
The first action the Fed is likely to take would be a slowdown in its $120 billion of monthly bond purchases, which are helping to keep mortgages cheap, but the Fed's chair said such a tapering is still likely "a ways away."
Any easing up on the Fed's aid for the economy would be a big change for markets, which have feasted on easy conditions after the central bank slashed short-term rates to zero and brought in other emergency programs.
The economy has begun to explode out of its coma as more widespread vaccinations help the world get closer to normal. At the same time, jumps in prices for raw materials are forcing companies across the economy to raise their own prices for customers, from fast food to used cars.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 47 cents to $70.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell $1.11 to $71.04 per barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 58 cents to $72.50 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 110.14 Japanese yen from 110.23 yen. The euro inched up to $1.1916 from $1.1908.
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
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