World shares and U.S. futures slipped Thursday after U.S. stocks drifted to a mixed close on Wall Street.
Oil prices fell about $2 a barrel.
China moved to reverse some of its “non-tariff” measures against the U.S. as agreed with Washington in their temporary trade war cease-fire and most markets traded in a narrow range.
The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.3% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%.
Germany’s DAX shed 0.8% to 23,344.95, while the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4% at 7,804.46. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% to 8,540.97.
In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1% to 37,7755.51. Computer chip-related stocks were among the biggest decliners, with Disco Corp. falling 3.2% and Advantest down 1.1%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.1% to 23,382.26, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.7% to 3,380.82. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.2% and India’s Sensex also was down 0.2%.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% higher to 8,297.50. South Korea’s Kospi gave up 0.7% to 2,621.36.
On Wednesday, a choppy day of trading on Wall Street ended with a mixed finish as gains by several big technology stocks helped temper losses.
The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% to 5,892.58 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 42,051.06. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7% to 19,146.81.
Super Micro Computer surged 15.7% after signing a partnership agreement with Saudi Arabian data center company DataVolt. Advanced Micro Devices gained 4.7% after announcing a $6 billion stock buyback program.
Nvidia rose 4.2% and Google parent Alphabet added 3.7%.
The U.S. will release its April report for inflation at the wholesale level on Thursday, and economists expect an easing of price pressures.
An update for retail sales is expected to reflect a sharp drop to 0.2% in April from 1.4% the previous month.
Retail giant Walmart will also report its latest financial results on Thursday and its financial forecasts will be closely watched.
The stock market has been relatively steady since it surged Monday after the U.S. and China announced a 90-day pause in their trade war. The market gained more ground on Tuesday after the government reported that inflation unexpectedly cooled across the country in April. More updates on inflation and retail sales are expected on Thursday.
Trump has delayed a large swath of his most severe tariffs against America’s trading partners, but some import taxes remain in place. Uncertainty over the path ahead continues to hang over businesses and consumers. The on-again-off-again nature of Trump’s trade policy has left companies reluctant to make plans about investment and hiring and consumers nervous about spending.
