Global shares mostly rise as investors look ahead to Fed

Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.2 per cent to 6,023. Shares in SoftBank, which announced Sunday that it was selling Britain's Arm Holdings to computer graphics chip company Nvidia for USD 40 billion, jumped 9 per cent.

Global shares mostly rose Monday, continuing a period of increased volatility, as traders awaited cues from the US central bank later in the week. US shares appeared set for gains with Dow futures up 1 per cent and S&P 500 futures up 1.3 per cent before the market open. France's CAC 40 gained 0.2 per cent to 5,041, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.1 per cent to 13,189. Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.2 per cent to 6,023.

Shares in SoftBank, which announced Sunday that it was selling Britain's Arm Holdings to computer graphics chip company Nvidia for USD 40 billion, jumped 9 per cent. SoftBank spent USD 32 billion to acquire Arm in 2016. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processing chips, while Arm is renowned as an innovator in the "Internet of Things." Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.7 per cent to finish at 23,559.30 after Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party picked a new leader, who will by definition become the prime minister because of the party's control over the more powerful lower house of Parliament. Yoshihide Suga, now the government spokesman, has said he will continue Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" policies of easy lending and deregulation. That decision should not be market moving as we fully expect a steady hand to remain on the tiller of Abenomics. Mr Suga has signalled that no further rises in sales tax are on the horizon, but all else should stay the same," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"Of more interest will be if Mr Suga signals that a new election will be held to mandate his new government," Halley said. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.7 per cent to 5,899.50. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.3 per cent to 2,427.91. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.6 per cent to 24,647.44, while the Shanghai Composite surged 0.6 per cent to 3,278.81.

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee will meet this week. The US central bank's massive aid for the economy has helped underpin the markets' recovery from the coronavirus downturn by slashing short-term interest rates to record lows and buying up bonds to support markets. The Bank of Japan also is due to hold a policy meeting this week. No major changes are expected in its ultra-lax monetary policies.

Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at AxiCorp, noted that investors face "many uncertainties," including the US elections and the global pandemic. "Unquestionably the virus story is the dominant macro pivot event, especially for equities, and is more likely to be dominated by optimism surrounding a vaccine. Indeed investors will be keeping their eye on the vaccine prize," he said.

Analysts expect swings to continue to rattle markets for weeks, if not months, as investors wait for more clarity on several key issues. At the head of the list of uncertainties is what to do with Big Tech stocks, which critics have long said were due for a slide after soaring too high through the summer. In energy trading, benchmark US crude dropped 11 cents to USD 37.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, was down 5 cents at USD 39.78 a barrel.

The dollar slipped to 105.98 Japanese yen from 106.16 yen on Friday. The euro cost USD 1.1865, up from USD 1.1845.(AP) RUP RUP.

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