Global stocks mixed after Wall Street rebounds from slump

Shanghai and Paris declined. U.S. futures were lower after Wall Street's S&P 500 index ended Wednesday up 2per cent for its best day in three months. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 22 cents to USD37.83 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Global stock markets were mixed Thursday after Wall Street rebounded from a three-day slump for tech stocks. London opened lower while Tokyo and Frankfurt advanced. Shanghai and Paris declined.

U.S. futures were lower after Wall Street's S&P 500 index ended Wednesday up 2per cent for its best day in three months. Investors were encouraged by hopes of possible additional stimulus from the European Central Bank, analysts said. But they warned the recovery was fragile.

"To the extent that 'buy the dip' mentality persists, this market may possess a somewhat more stubborn bullish streak," said Mizuho Bank. However, "markets will be prone to more volatility." In early trading, the FTSE 100 in London lost 0.8per cent to 5,965.10 and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.2per cent lower at 5,035.54. The DAX in Frankfurt advanced less than 0.1per cent to 13,249.15.

On Wall Street, futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.2per cent. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.6per cent to 3,234.82 after spending most of the day in positive territory. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo added 0.9per cent to 23,235.47 while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up 0.2per cent to 24,428.23.

The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.9per cent to 2,396.48 and Sydney's ASX-S&P 500 gained 0.5per cent to 5,908.50. India's Sensex added 1.3per cent to 38,676.69. New Zealand and Bangkok advanced while Singapore and Jakarta declined. Global markets have recovered most of this year's losses, but that was based largely on strong gains for tech stocks while other companies are lower.

Forecasters warn the stock price recovery might be too big and too early to be supported by uncertain economic activity as coronavirus infection numbers rise in the United States, Brazil and some other countries. Some governments have re-imposed anti-disease controls that hamper business. On Wednesday, Apple, Amazon and other U.S. tech companies that had lost momentum late last week all regained some ground.

The Dow climbed 1.6per cent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 2.7per cent. It had dropped 10per cent over the previous three days. The U.S. Congress is at an impasse on whether to approve a new economic aid package after additional unemployment benefits ran out. The Senate is due to vote this week on a Republican-proposed package but it has little chance of passage because Democrats want more aid.

A Senate vote this week on a trimmed-down relief package proposed by Republicans has only a slim chance of passage as Democrats insist on more sweeping aid. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 22 cents to USD37.83 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose USD1.29 on Wednesday to settle at USD38.05. Brent crude, the international standard, declined 13 cents to USD40.66 per barrel in London. It added USD1.01 the previous session to USD40.79.

The dollar declined to 106.07 Japanese yen from Wednesday's 106.18. The euro gained to USD1.1825 from USD1.1823.