TOKYO (AP) โ European stocks mostly rose on Wednesday after a mixed session in Asia, where selling in property and technology stocks pushed down Chinese benchmarks.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.4% in early trading to 7,281.99, while Germany's DAX added 1% to 16,151.57. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.2% to 7,438.87. The Dow Jones Industrial Average future gained 0.3% and the S&P 500 future also gained 0.3%.
In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.3% to finish at 33,321.22. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 7,035.30. South Korea's Kospi lost almost 0.1% to 2,519.81. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 2.1% to 16,993.44, while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 3,021.69.
Hong Kong-listed shares of food delivery company Meituan fell 12.2% after forecasting its revenue will fall in the current quarter.
Troubled property developer China Evergrande sank 10.4% following reports that its property services group was suing the parent company to recover deposit guarantees. Sino-Ocean Group Holding fell 6.9%.
Oil prices rose ahead of the OPEC members meeting scheduled for Thursday.
"OPEC+ is struggling to reach a deal to extend production cuts, leaving the oil market in flux," Forex.com's Matthew Weller said in a report. "Although not the most likely scenario, a collapse in talks could push oil prices to multi-month lows."
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 21 cents to $76.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday it gained $1.55, to $76.41 a barrel.
Brent crude added 16 cents to $81.63 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%. It is on track to close November with its biggest monthly gain of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.
Consumer confidence remains strong heading into the holiday shopping season. The Conference Board's November consumer confidence survey released Tuesday topped analysts' forecasts. Consumer spending accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity and remains a bulwark against slower economic growth.
On Thursday, the government releases its October data on the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. Economists expect that measure to continue to ease, as it has since mid-2022. Easing inflation control and a resilient economy have raised hopes that the Federal Reserve could finally finish raising its benchmark interest rate.
The Federal Reserve will meet again in December to update its interest rate policy. The central bank had been raising rates to bring inflation back down to 2% and has been getting closer to that goal. The central bank has been working to reduce rates as it tries to avoid a recession in what is known as a โsoft landingโ for the economy. The latest economic data raises hopes for that outcome.
In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.29% early Wednesday, down from 4.39% on Monday. This is putting pressure on the dollar, which fell to 147.54 Japanese yen. It had been trading around 150 yen for weeks. The euro fell to $1.0976 from $1.0992.
