Global markets get bumpy ride, as Japan’s stocks slump while Chinese markets soar

Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — Global markets had a wild start to the week, with Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index tumbling nearly 5% while Chinese markets soared on news of fresh stimulus for the faltering economy, with Shanghai up more than 8%.

In early European trading, France’s CAC 40 slipped 1.0% to 7,711.66, and Germany’s DAX lost 0.4% to 19,399.02. In London, the FTSE 100 declined 0.3% to 8,294.70. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.

Japanese shares sank after the ruling Liberal Democrats chose former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba late Friday to succeed Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is due to step down on Tuesday.

Ishiba has expressed support for the Bank of Japan’s moves to raise interest rates from their near-zero level. He also backs other policies, such as possibly raising corporate taxes, that are seen as less market friendly than his chief rival for the top job, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, who he beat in a run-off vote.

The Nikkei closed 4.8% lower at 37,919.55 on Monday.

The dollar fell from over 146 Japanese yen to under 143 yen after the ruling party’s vote. By Monday, it was trading at 142.38 yen, up from 142.29.

Exporters’ shares plunged, since a stronger yen is a disadvantage for Japanese companies that make a large share of their sales and profits overseas. Also Monday, the government reported that industrial output fell 3.3% year-on-year in August, though analysts said some of that was due to safety scandals that have caused automakers to suspend production of some vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp. dropped 7.6%. Honda Motor Co.’s shares fell 7.0% and Nissan Motor Co.’s declined 6.0%.

Ishiba has said he backs Kishida’s “new capitalism” policies, which ostensibly would foster more equal distribution of national wealth. But sharply rising prices have undermined progress toward encouraging consumers to spend more.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 2.4% to 21,133.68, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index up 6.4%. The Shanghai Composite index surged 8.1% to 3,336.50. An index in the smaller market in Shenzhen jumped almost 11%.

The rallies were auspiciously timed, coming on the eve of a week-long national holiday marking 75 years of communist rule in China. Markets in mainland China will be closed Tuesday through Oct. 7.

China is moving forward with measures announced last week to support the property industry and revive languishing financial markets. The central bank announced on Sunday that it would direct banks to cut mortgage rates for existing home loans by Oct. 31. Meanwhile, the major southern city of Guangzhou lifted all home purchase restrictions over the weekend, while both Shanghai and Shenzhen revealed plans to ease key buying curbs.

The effort to wrest the housing market out of a prolonged downturn comes as the economy shows signs of slowing further. China’s manufacturing activity in September contracted for a fifth consecutive month, as the official purchasing managers’ index came in at 49.8, remaining below the 50 line that separates expansion from contraction, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.7% to 8,269.80. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 2.1% to 2,593.27.

On Friday, the S&P 500 edged down by 0.1% from its all-time high to 5,738.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 42,313.00, setting its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.4% to 18,119.59.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market after a report showed inflation slowed in August by a bit more than economists expected. It echoed similar numbers from earlier in the month about inflation, but Friday’s report has resonance because it’s the measure that officials at the Federal Reserve prefer to use.

In other dealings, oil prices rose as tensions in the Middle East escalated. On early Monday, Israel launched the first apparent airstrike in nearly a year of conflict on the center of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut. This came after Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an air attack on Saturday. Benchmark U.S. crude oil added 49 cents to $68.67 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 61 cents at $72.15 per barrel.

The euro was trading at $1.1193, up from $1.1163.