By Canadian Press

Global markets mostly higher following Trump’s upbeat speech

Feb 28, 2017 | 8:00 AM

TOKYO — Global markets were mostly higher Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a relatively upbeat speech to the U.S. Congress. Investors were hoping for signals on what’s ahead in trade, regulations and tax policies, though they got few specifics.

KEEPING SCORE: France’s CAC 40 gained 1 per cent to 4,906.99 and and Germany’s DAX also jumped 1 per cent, to 11,953.45. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6 per cent to 7,307.74. Wall Street looked set for gains, with Dow futures up 0.3 per cent and S&P 500 futures 0.4 per cent higher.

TRUMP SPEECH: Investors were hoping for details of policies to match Trump’s promises for an economic revival. The president steered away from dramatically negative descriptions of the state of the U.S. economy and his reiteration of his pledges to reform taxes, slash red tape and ramp up spending on defence and infrastructure projects have mostly sent world share benchmarks higher.

THE QUOTE: “President Trump’s address was high on rhetoric and light on detail, leaving the market underwhelmed. The address to Congress was released a good hour before the main event this morning. Mr. Trump followed it word for word with no surprises or add-ons,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA.

ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.4 per cent to finish at 19,393.54. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.1 per cent at 5,704.80. But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.2 per cent to 23,776.49, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2 per cent to 3,246.93. South Korea’s markets were closed for a holiday.

more housing

Nanaimo council endorses significant south end redevelopment

2h ago

drug offences

Unique offender sentenced for Nanaimo drug busts

8h ago

bravery award

VIDEO: Arrowsmith SAR president recognized for life-saving rescue

22h ago

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude lost 12 cents to $53.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It slipped 4 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $54.01 Tuesday. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, fell 6 cents to $56.45 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 113.57 yen from Tuesday’s 112.57 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0542 from $1.0586.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama

Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press