Stock market today: World shares are mixed as investors eye the US election

World shares were mixed on Tuesday, with major benchmarks in Asia gaining more than 1%, as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election and other potentially market-rattling events this week.

This week brings bring various potential flashpoints, among them Election Day in the United States. But the results may not be known for some time as officials count all the votes, and the uncertainty could roil markets.

Adding to the potential for volatility, the Federal Reserve will also be meeting on interest rates later this week. The widespread expectation is for it to cut its main interest rate for a second straight time.

The futures for the S&P 500 and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 0.1% higher.

In early European trading, Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% lower to 19,125.18 while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 7,356.02.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 8,179.73.

Share prices surged on Chinese markets as investors anticipated moves by Beijing to boost the world’s second-largest economy during a meeting of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.1% to 21,006.97, while the Shanghai Composite index surged 2.3% to 3,386.99.

Officials are expected to endorse major spending initiatives to boost economic growth amid troubles for the country’s real-estate industry.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that the lawmakers had reviewed legislation to raise ceilings on local government debt to replace existing hidden debts, part of a plan announced earlier to arrange debt swaps to help resolve the financial woes brought on by the pandemic and by a collapse in the property market in recent years. So far, no specific amount of funding for such efforts has been announced.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.1% to 38,474.90, reopening after a holiday on Monday.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4% to 2,576,88 after the country’s military said North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, continuing its weapons demonstrations ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia dropped 0.4% to 8,131.80 as the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

On Monday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, remaining near its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.

The hope that’s propelled U.S. stock indexes to records recently is that the U.S. economy can remain resilient and avoid a long-feared recession, in part because of the coming cuts to rates expected from the Fed.

The broad U.S. stock market has historically risen regardless of which party wins the White House. And in 2020, U.S. stocks climbed immediately after Election Day and kept going even after former President Donald Trump refused to concede and challenged the results, creating plenty of uncertainty. A large part of that rally was due to excitement about the potential for a vaccine for COVID-19, which had just shut down the global economy.

A Trump victory would be less of a surprise to markets this time around than in 2016, when Treasury yields soared on expectations for tax cuts that could further inflate the nation’s debt or fuel a stronger U.S economy.

In the oil market early Tuesday, the price for a barrel of U.S. crude gained 27 cents to $71.74. On Monday, it rose 2.8% after Saudi Arabia and other oil producers said they would delay plans to increase the amount of crude they produced.

Brent crude, the international standard, advanced 23 cents to $75.31 per barrel. It rose 2.7% on Monday. The price of Brent is still down for the year so far, in part because of worries about how much demand will come from China given its economic challenges.

In currency dealings, the dollar rose to 152.36 Japanese yen from 152.10 yen. The euro climbed to $1.0886 from $1.0880.

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