BANGKOK (AP) - World stock markets mostly rose Friday as investors shrugged off Facebook’s nearly $120 billion overnight plunge in market value, the biggest-ever one-day loss in dollar value for a U.S. company.
KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX added 0.5 percent to 12,874 and the CAC 40 in France was up 0.4 percent at 5,501. Britain’s FTSE 100 picked up 0.5 percent to 7,701. Futures pointed to small gains on the open on Wall Street, with the contract for the Dow up 0.1 percent and S&P futures up less than 0.1 percent.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.6 percent to 22,712.75 and the Kospi in South Korea picked up 0.3 percent to 2,294.99. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3 percent to 2,873.59 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged 0.1 percent lower to 28,757.20. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 jumped 0.9 percent to 6,300.20. Shares gained in Taiwan and Indonesia but were lower in Singapore.
TECHNOLOGY: Facebook’s tumble, brought on by its warning to investors that it sees slower revenue growth ahead, led a decline in technology shares that snapped a three-day winning streak for the S&P 500 index. The focus is likely to remain on the technology sector as shares in Twitter plunged 15 percent after it said the number of monthly users dropped in the second quarter.
EARNINGS: Other corporate earnings report were in focus. They were upbeat for drugs maker Merck and Italian energy producer Eni. Investors are also keeping an eye on results from Exxon Mobil.
TRADE: The agreement between President Donald Trump and a European delegation to work on a pact to dismantle trade barrier inspired fresh optimism among investors that trade tensions between the U.S and European Union may be on the mend. But it’s worrying for Asian trading partners, especially China, which could lose leverage with Washington in its own disputes, especially over its imports of soybeans.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 18 cents to $69.43 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It picked up 31 cents to settle at $69.61 per barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dropped 9 cents to $74.45.
CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 111.19 yen from 111.23 yen on Thursday. The euro fell to $1.1626 from $1.1645.
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