Global Stocks Mixed: Wall St Gains, China Data Weighs

Hong Kong, May 13 (AP) World stocks were mixed on Monday after Wall Street coasted to the close of another winning week.

European markets were little changed. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 per cent to 8,444.23. Germany's DAX edged down by 2.40 to 18,770.45 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.1 per cent to 8,210.88.

The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1 per cent higher and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was less than 0.1 per cent higher.

In Asia, the release of weak Chinese lending data and news that the US government plans to raise tariffs on a raft of Chinese exports were weighing on sentiment.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 shed 0.1 per cent to 38,179.46. The country's first quarter economic growth figures are due to be released on Thursday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.8 per cent and ended at 19,108.78, helped by buying of technology shares.

But the Shanghai Composite index was 0.2 per cent lower, to 3,148.02, after China's inflation data rose for a third straight month in April, while the producer price index, which measures the cost of factory goods, declined for a 19th month, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Saturday.

New loans fell to 730 billion yuan ($100 billion) in April from 3.09 trillion yuan in March and total credit declined partly due to a lower level of government bonds being issued. Officials said the data show demand remains weak with the real estate sector still ailing.

The Biden administration is expected to announce this week that it will raise tariffs on electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar equipment, and medical supplies imported from China, according to people familiar with the plan. Tariffs on electric vehicles, in particular, could quadruple from 25 per cent to 100 per cent.

These tariffs, which are expected to be announced on Tuesday, sparked selling of some automakers. Chinese EV maker BYD's stock dropped 0.2 per cent and NIO slumped 2 per cent.

South Korea's Kospi fell less than 0.1 per cent to 2,727.21 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 1 point higher to 7,750.00.

Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.7 per cent after leading computer maker TSMC reported its revenue surged nearly 60% in April from a year earlier. India's Sensex fell 0.6 per cent.

On Friday, the S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 5,222.68 to finish a third straight winning week following a mostly miserable April. Early gains shrank after a discouraging report on US consumer sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 39,512.84, and the Nasdaq composite edged down by 5.40 to 16,340.87.

The S&P 500 is within 0.6 per cent of its record, helped by revived hopes the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates this year. A flood of stronger-than-expected reports on profits from big US companies has also helped support the market.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose following the discouraging preliminary report from the University of Michigan.

It suggested sentiment among US consumers is weakening by much more than economists expected, and the drop was large enough to be “statistically significant and brings sentiment to its lowest reading in about six months,” according to Joanne Hsu, director of the survey of consumers.

Potentially even more discouraging is that U.S. consumers were forecasting inflation of 3.5 per cent in the upcoming year, up from their forecast of 3.2 per cent a month earlier. If such expectations spiral higher, the fear is that it could lead to a vicious cycle that worsens inflation.

In other trading, benchmark US crude rose 33 cents to $78.59 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, was 27 cents higher at $83.06 a barrel.

The US dollar edged up to 155.88 Japanese yen from 155.70 yen. The euro cost $1.0777, up from $1.0771. (AP)