By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer
TOKYO (AP) — 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% in early trading to 8,643.50, while the German DAX surged 0.9% to 26,232.04. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up nearly 0.4% to 10,897.75.
U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.1% at 53,409.00. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% to 7,644.00.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% to finish at 63,957.53, as the U.S. dollar rose to 157.80 Japanese yen from 157.18 yen. The euro cost $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% to 6,358.95. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 1.4% to 9,145.80. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6% to 25,852.92, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.3% 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% 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.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed to this report.