World Shares Mixed, UK Pound Stumbles Over Tax Cuts

Global shares were mixed Monday while the British pound declined to an all-time low against the US dollar on concerns over planned tax cuts. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2% in early trading to 5,795.88, while Germany’s DAX added 0.2% to 12,311.57.

Photo Insert: Germany’s DAX added 0.2% to 12,311.57.

Britain’s FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher to 7,025.51, Yuri Kageyama reported for the Associated Press (AP).

The futures for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 were 0.1% lower. In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 2.7% to finish at 26,431.55. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 1.6% to 6,469.40.

South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.0% to 2,220.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 0.4% to 17,855.14, while the Shanghai Composite lost 1.2% to 3,051.23.

In energy trading on Monday, benchmark US crude fell 70 cents to $78.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. crude oil prices slid 5.7% Friday to their lowest levels since early this year on worries that a weaker global economy will burn less fuel.

Brent crude, the international standard, edged down 93 cents to $85.22 a barrel.

The recent moves by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks to raise interest rates are designed to curb decades of high inflation, but they also raise the risks of a recession.

Last week, the Fed lifted its benchmark rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 3% to 3.25%. It was near zero at the start of the year. The Fed also released a forecast suggesting its benchmark rate could be 4.4% by the year’s end, a full point higher than envisioned in June.

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