World shares were mixed on Thursday after a modest advance on Wall Street that kept the market on track for a fourth straight weekly gain.
Markets in Japan and the U.S. are closed for holidays.
Oil prices initially fell about $1 a barrel after OPEC postponed until next week a meeting to discuss production cuts. The oil cartel has been maintaining a tight market for crude oil with production cuts. It is expected to extend those cuts after oil prices have fallen after a spike in the summer to almost $100 a barrel.
Germany’s DAX gained 0.1% to 15,969.49 and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1% at 7,266.18. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher to 7,080.48.
The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were virtually unchanged.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq gained 0.5%. Trading was muted ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. U.S. markets will open for half a day of trading on Friday.
In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng reversed early losses, gaining 1% to 17,910.84 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.6% to 3,061.86.
Markets in Greater China have been swaying in reaction to moves by Chinese regulators to prop up the ailing property market. Shares in troubled developer Country Garden jumped 16% amid reports that it is included on a list of real estate companies eligible for financing support. Sino-Ocean Group Holding’s shares soared 27%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6% to 7,029.20. In South Korea, the Kospi edged 0.1% higher, to 2,514.96.
Bangkok’s SET lost 0.4% and the Taiex in Taiwan was down 0.1%. The Sensex in Mumbai gained 0.1%.
Technology and communications services stocks accounted for a big share of Wednesday’s gains for the S&P 500. Microsoft rose 1.3% and Google parent Alphabet added 1.1%.
Broadcom slipped 0.9% after announcing that it expects to complete its $69 billion deal to acquire VMWare on Wednesday after clearing all regulatory hurdles.
A 0.9% drop in oil prices weighed on energy companies. Energy giant Exxon Mobil fell 0.4% and oilfield services company Halliburton dropped 0.8%.
Nvidia fell 2.5%, despite handily beating analysts’ profit and revenue forecasts. Export restrictions to China are pressuring the company, though its stock has more than tripled this year amid booming demand for its chips in artificial intelligence applications.
Treasury yields were relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.40% late Tuesday.
A consumer sentiment survey by the University of Michigan showed that confidence remains strong. Wall Street has been closely watching consumer spending and confidence reports for more clues on the economy’s path ahead.
Forecasts for a potential recession have been pushed further out into 2024 while also being softened. The rate of inflation continues to ease, consumer spending remains solid and the economy is generally humming along. That has encouraged hopes, and bets, that the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates and could soon consider cutting rates.
“Turkey prices cost around 5.6% less than last year, stuffing mix costs nearly 3% less, pie crusts are nearly 5% cheaper and cranberry prices are down by more than 18%,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary. “It is said that an average 10 people Thanksgiving feast would cost less than $62 — that’s less than $6.2 per person, down from around 4.5% compared to last year.”
Fed officials have said the outlook for the economy remains uncertain and they’ll make upcoming decisions on rates based on incoming reports. The Fed will get another big update next week when the government releases its October report for a key inflation measure tracked by the central bank.
In other trading Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 49 cents to $76.61 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped 67 cents to $77.10 per barrel on Wednesday, but fell as low as $73.50 during trading.
Brent crude, the international pricing standard, gave up 60 cents to $81.36 per barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 149.19 Japanese yen from 149.56 yen. The euro rose to $1.0912 from $1.0889.
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