By Canadian Press

European shares fall, Asia gains as US healthcare vote looms

Mar 22, 2017 | 7:30 AM

TOKYO — Global shares were mixed Thursday, as European benchmarks edged lower after a day of gains in Asia. Investors are awaiting a vote in the U.S. Congress on health care legislation that is seen as a bellwether President Donald Trump’s ability to deliver on campaign promises of tax and regulatory reforms.

KEEPING SCORE: Germany’s DAX was flat at 11,907.38 and the CAC40 in France fell 0.2 per cent to 4986.96. Britain’s FTSE 100 was 0.1 per cent lower at 7,318.78. U.S. markets looked set for a tepid start with Dow futures down less than 0.1 per cent and S&P 500 futures up 0.1 per cent.

HEALTHCARE VOTE: Republican leaders in Congress were looking to Trump to help win over a crucial bloc of conservatives in supporting the American Health Care Act before a House of Representatives vote on Thursday. Earlier in the week, shares fell on doubts over the outlook for Trump’s agenda of tax cuts and higher infrastructure spending.

ANALYST’S VIEWPOINT: “The implications of the health care reform bill vote may be more pronounced when the results arrive and I would not be surprised to find the market using this vote as a proxy in their expectations for future policies to be passed,” Jingyi Pan of IG said in a commentary.

ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.2 per cent to 19,085.31. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was flat at 24,327.70 and South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.2 per cent to 2,172.72. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 per cent to 3,248.55 and Australia’s S&P ASX 200 was up 0.4 per cent to 5,708.00. Shares were higher in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

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ENERGY: U.S. crude oil gained 20 cents to $48.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 20 cents to $48.04 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, gained 13 cents to $50.77 a barrel. It fell 32 cents to $50.64 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar slipped to 111.06 yen from 111.17 yen. The euro fell to $1.0775 from $1.0797.

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press