HONG KONG (AP) — Global stocks were mixed on Thursday after the lull on Wall Street extended for a second day, with Chinese benchmarks rising after China reported better-than-expected trade numbers for April.
US stocks are expected to decline as S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.2%.
Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.27 to 8,351.80, before the Bank of England announced its latest interest rate decision later on Thursday. Germany's DAX rose 0.3% to 18,545.32 and Paris' CAC 40 lost 0.1% to 8,125.56.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3% to 38,073.98.
Shares of automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp. fell 4.9% after the company forecast a 7% lower net profit in the fiscal year ending in March 2025.
Toyota Motor fell 0.4% after reporting Wednesday that it doubled its net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March.
The US dollar rose to 155.86 Japanese yen from 155.52 yen, as reports in Tokyo speculated on the likelihood of further intervention by the Ministry of Finance to stem the yen's decline.
“We are always prepared to do so if necessary. We could do it today. We could do it tomorrow,” Masato Kanda, Deputy Minister of Finance for International Affairs.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.1% to 18,511.26 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,154.32.
China reported that its exports rose 1.5% in April from a year earlier, while imports rose 8.4%. The renewed growth suggests a stronger demand recovery than previous data had suggested.
In South Korea, the Kospi lost 1.2% to 2,712.14. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.1% to 7,721.60.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 closed virtually unchanged after swinging between modest gains and losses throughout the day. It fell 0.03 to 5,187.67, after a very slight gain on Tuesday, following a great three-day winning streak.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 39,056.39 and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2% to 16,302.76.
Uber Technologies fell 5.7% after reporting worse results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also provided a forecast range for bookings in the current quarter whose midpoint fell below analyst estimates.
Shopify fell 18.6% despite reporting better earnings and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, which helps businesses sell things online, said its revenue growth would likely slow this quarter and it would likely make less profit per dollar of revenue.
Match Group sank 5.4% despite beating profit expectations. The company behind Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps gave a revenue forecast in the current quarter that missed analysts' expectations.
Most companies have reported higher profits at the beginning of the year than analysts expected. That and recently revived hopes of upcoming interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve have helped the US stock market recover from its difficult month of April.
Treasury yields have been largely declining since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank remains closer to cutting its main interest rate than raising it, despite a series of stubbornly high inflation readings this year. Meanwhile, a better-than-expected jobs report on Friday suggested the U.S. economy could pull off the balancing act of staying strong enough to avoid a bad recession without being so strong that it keeps inflation too high.
In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 66 cents to $79.65 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 58 cents to $84.16 a barrel.
The euro fell to $1.0734 from $1.0745.
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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
