TOKYO , European shares opened lower on Friday following a disappointing day in Asia. Chinese benchmarks fell under renewed concerns about property developers.
While benchmarks dropped in London, Tokyo and Hong Kong, they rose in Paris, Sydney, and Hong Kong.
Investors were keeping an eye out for further information on earnings and employment figures.
On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that Americans applied for unemployment benefits at a new low. This is another indication that the market is recovering from last year’s recession caused by the coronavirus. Friday will see the release of the agency’s more detailed October jobs report.
Germany’s DAX fell 0.1% to 16,018.28. Meanwhile, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.2% to 6,996.08. The FTSE 100 in Britain fell 0.1% to 7,277.14. Futures for the Dow industrials were 0.1% lower than those for the S&P 500.
The benchmark S&P 500 climbed 0.4% on Thursday, extending its winning streak of six days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq gained 0.8%. The Russell 2000 index of small-company stocks fell 0.1%
After Kaisa Group, a developer in China, announced that Hong Kong-traded shares of its listed companies were being suspended because it failed to make payments on wealth products it had promised, there was a lot of agitation about China’s property market.
Markets are being rattled by tightened borrowing controls for highly leveraged real-estate companies, after Evergrande Group failed to pay some of its $300 billion debt. Evergrande faces further payment deadlines on Saturday.
The Chinese government has increased its controls over wealth management.
Friday’s Asian trading saw Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index drop 1.5% to 24,859.00. The Shanghai Composite index fell 1% to 3,491.57.
Tokyo’s Nikkei225 index lost 0.6% to 29,611.75, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5% to 2,960.27. The S&P/ASX 500 index gained 0.4% to 7,456.90 in Sydney.
Japanese automaker Honda has lowered its profit forecasts and vehicle sales for the fiscal year. This was due to a shortage of computer chips and rising costs.
According to the Japanese video-game manufacturer, the shortage of computer chips required to build the Nintendo Switch is a serious problem that will not be solved soon.
Shuntaro Furukawa stated to reporters that the situation is still very tight and that the future was uncertain.
Investors have raised concerns about supply chain issues and their impact on profits and operations of corporations in the recent earnings round.
After OPEC and allied countries agreed to continue with their plan to increase oil production in a cautious manner, even though prices are rising and the world economy is starving for fuel, benchmark U.S. crude oil prices rose $1.24 to $80.05 per barrel in electronic trading on New York Mercantile Exchange.
The OPEC+ alliance is made up of OPEC member countries led by Saudi Arabia and non-members led Russia. It was created to resist pressure from the U.S. President Joe Biden and pump more oil and lower gasoline prices in order to provide fuel for U.S. motorists.
On Thursday, the U.S. benchmark fell $2.05 to $78.81.
Brent crude oil, which is the international standard for pricing, increased 73 cents per barrel to $81.27.
From 113.75 Japanese Yuen, the U.S. Dollar rose to 113.82 Japanese Yoen. At $1.155757, the euro was flat.
