Stock market today: Global shares mixed after Wall Street's lull stretches to a 2nd day

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

HONG KONG (AP) — World shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street’s lull stretched into a second day, with Chinese benchmarks rising after China reported better-than-expected trade figures for April.

U.S. stocks are set to be down as the futures for the S&P 500 and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average both dropped 0.2%.

A person stands near an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down by 1.27 to 8,351.80, ahead of the Bank of England announcing its latest decision on interest rates later Thursday. Germany’s DAX rose 0.3% to 18,545.32 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.1% to 8,125.56.

A person rides bicycle past an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 and New York Dow indexes at a securities firm Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3% at 38,073.98.

Automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s shares dropped 4.9% after the company forecasted a 7% lower net profit in the fiscal year that will end in March 2025.

Toyota Motor slipped 0.4% after it reported Wednesday that it doubled its net profit in the fiscal year that ended in March.

The U.S. dollar rose to 155.86 Japanese yen from 155.52 yen, as reports in Tokyo speculated on the likelihood of further intervention by the Finance Ministry to curb the yen’s slide.

“We’re always prepared to do so if necessary. We might do it today. We might do it tomorrow,” Masato Kanda, the Finance Vice Minister for International Affairs.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong 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 jumped 8.4%. The renewed growth suggests a stronger recovery in demand than earlier data had suggested.

In South Korea, the Kospi lost 1.2% to 2,712.14. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.1% to 7,721.60.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 finished virtually unchanged after flipping between modest gains and losses through the day. It edged down by 0.03 to 5,187.67, coming off a very slight gain on Tuesday, which followed a big three-day winning streak.

People look at an electronic stock board showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 39,056.39, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2% to 16,302.76.

Uber Technologies slumped 5.7% after reporting worse results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also gave a forecasted range for bookings in the current quarter whose midpoint fell below analysts’ estimates.

Shopify tumbled 18.6% despite reporting better profit 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 that it would likely make less profit off each $1 in revenue.

Match Group sank 5.4% despite topping profit expectations. The company behind Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that fell short of what analysts were expecting.

Most companies have been reporting stronger profits for the start of the year than analysts expected. That and newly revived hopes for coming cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve have helped the U.S. stock market to recover from its rough April.

Treasury yields have largely been easing since Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank remains closer to cutting its main interest rate than hiking it, despite a string of stubbornly high readings on inflation this year. A cooler-than-expected jobs report on Friday, meanwhile, suggested the U.S. economy could pull off the balancing act of staying solid enough to avoid a bad recession without being so strong that it keeps inflation too high.

In other trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil rose 66 cents to $79.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was up 58 cents to $84.16 per barrel.

The euro dropped to $1.0734 from $1.0745.

___

AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.