Shares were mostly higher in Europe and Asia on Thursday after crude oil prices rebounded from an overnight sell-off and Japan reported stronger-than-expected exports in March. Easing tensions over North Korea helped brighten the mood after weeks of jitters over the U.S. response to Pyongyang's missile tests and nuclear weapons program.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 was steady at 7,116.71 in early trading while the CAC 40 in France jumped 0.6 per cent to 5,031.49. Germany's DAX was steady at 12,020.15. Dow futures gained 0.2 per cent to 20,379.00 and S&P 500 futures also were up 0.2 per cent at 2,338.60, suggesting an upbeat start to Thursday's trading.
OIL PRICES: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 30 cents to $51.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost $1.97, or 3.8 per cent overnight, to $50.44 a barrel after the Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude inventories fell less than expected last week. The EIA said stockpiles are larger than normal for this time of year. Brent crude, used to price international oils, jumped 29 cents to $53.22 a barrel. It fell $1.96, or 3.6 per cent, to $52.93 per barrel in London.
JAPAN TRADE: Japan's exports rose at a faster-than-expected 12 per cent pace in March, while imports jumped nearly 16 per cent from a year earlier. A revival of demand in China helped push exports to that country up 16.4 per cent from the year before to 1.3 trillion yen ($11 billion), while exports to the U.S. climbed 3.5 per cent to 1.35 trillion yen ($12 billion).
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "The upshot is that net trade should have provided another boost to Q1 GDP growth," Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary.
NORTH KOREA FACTOR: President Donald Trump's recent statement that the U.S. wants peace followed by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley's message to North Korea on Wednesday that, "We're not trying to pick a fight" appeared to help take the edge off of recent worries over brewing tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.
ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 index was unchanged at 18,430.49 and the Kospi in South Korea rose 0.5 per cent to 2,149.15. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.9 per cent to 24,029.53 and Australia's S&P ASX 200 advanced 0.3 per cent to 5,821.40. The Shanghai Composite index edged less than 0.1 per cent higher to 3,172.10 and Southeast Asian benchmarks were higher.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 108.97 yen from 108.86 yen. The euro rose to $1.0745 from $1.0712.
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