Stocks mostly gain as Ukraine rhetoric dialed down
Source: AP-Excite
By YURI KAGEYAMA
TOKYO (AP) — Global stock markets mostly rose Friday, cheered by the prospect of more gains on Wall Street and a sense that Ukraine tensions are easing.
KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 added 0.7 percent to 4,234.60. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.8 percent to 6,735.47 and Germany's DAX rose 0.8 percent to 9,295.38. Futures augured gains on Wall Street. Dow futures rose 0.3 percent to 16,731 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.3 percent to 1,958.40.
ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 0.6 percent to 24,954.94 and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent to 2,226.73. Japan's Nikkei 225 was little changed at 15,318.34 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent to 5,566.52. South Korean markets were closed for a holiday and trading was subdued in Japan because of the Obon holidays, during which major companies slumber.
EASING TENSIONS: Sentiment was helped by Russia's President Vladimir Putin appearing to tone down his rhetoric on situation in Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are waging an insurgency in Ukraine's east. In addressing hundreds of lawmakers Thursday in the Black Sea resort of Yalta in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in March, he said Russia's goal was "to stop bloodshed in Ukraine as soon as possible."
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FILE - This Jan. 4, 2010 file photo shows an historic marker on Wall Street in New York. The U.S. stock market crept up in midday trading Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014, following a mixed batch of corporate news. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
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