An investor prepares to leave a quiet brokerage house in Beijing, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Shares were mixed in Asia early Wednesday after U.S. stocks finished broadly higher on Wall Street, erasing modest losses from a day earlier. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Republished March 27, 2019 - 2:53 AM
Original Publication Date March 26, 2019 - 7:26 AM
BANGKOK - Shares were mixed in Europe and Asia on Wednesday as British lawmakers sought to end an impasse following the overwhelming defeat of Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed plan for leaving the European Union.
With relations between the United Kingdom and the European bloc in chaos, the FTSE 100 gained 0.2 per cent to 7,208.34 while Germany's DAX was flat at 11,422.47. The CAC 40 in France edged 0.1 per cent lower to 5,304.49.
Wall Street looked set for gains, with the future contract for the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1 per cent at 25,696.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 future also rose 0.1 per cent to 2,826.90.
The debate over Brexit comes two days after lawmakers wrested control of the parliamentary agenda away from the government amid concern over May's willingness to compromise.
The House of Commons was scheduled Wednesday to debate the various alternatives for the split from the EU, after which lawmakers will be asked to vote for all of the options they could accept. The most popular ideas will move to a second vote on Monday in hopes of finding one option that can command a majority.
Shares in China rose ahead of the resumption of trade talks with the U.S. on Thursday in Beijing. Uncertainty remains over how the U.S. and China will resolve their costly trade dispute.
"The ability to strike an economically viable, mutually agreeable, politically acceptable, and commercially enforceable deal within a reasonably quick time will be put to the test," Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. "Without obsessing over every minute detail, suffice to say that optimism over the potential for such a trade deal has been challenged by the ability to get both sides on the same page over a whole range of issues."
The Shanghai Composite jumped 0.9 per cent to 3,022.72 in a late-in-the-day rally. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6 per cent to 28,728.25. The advances followed a report that industrial profits dropped 14 per cent from a year earlier in January-February.
Such indicators of slowing growth in the world's No. 2 economy tend to boost share prices as investors speculate the government may take fresh measures to support growth.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 per cent to close at 21,378.73. Australia's S&P ASX 200 edged 0.1 per cent higher to 6,136.00. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.2 per cent to 2,145.62 and the Sensex in India slipped 0.2 per cent to 38,162.10. Shares fell in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude fell 9 cents to $59.85 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.12 Tuesday to $59.94 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 7 cents to $67.50 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar weakened to 110.56 Japanese yen from 110.63 yen on Tuesday. The euro rose $1.1281 from $1.1266.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019