HONG KONG -- World shares were mostly higher Friday and the bond market appeared to have stabilized following another bond sell-off that brought U.S. Treasury yields to their highest in years. U.S. futures edged higher. The futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3 per cent, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also gained 0.3 per cent. In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.5 per cent to 10,733.65. France’s CAC 40 also rose 0.5 per cent to 8,118.32, while Germany’s DAX advanced 1 per cent to 25,514.28. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.3 per cent to 66,364.20. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1 per cent to 24,510.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.4 per cent to 8,665.00. India’s Sensex was up 0.3 per cent. Markets in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea were closed because of a holiday. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 was almost unchanged on Thursday, edging down less than 0.1 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3 per cent, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite climbed less than 0.1 per cent. A global sell-off in the bond market has again added pressure to the stock market, as the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury reached its highest since 2007. The U.S. 10-year Treasury eased slightly to around 5.17 per cent early Friday, after rising above 5.20 per cent on Thursday from around 5.11 per cent Wednesday. Government bond yields have been elevated as bond investors are demanding higher compensation under increasing risks and uncertainties, including growing inflationary pressure from the Iran war-driven energy shock and rising U.S. government debt. ING Bank analysts wrote in a commentary this week that factors including elevated energy prices and inflation pressures are likely to continue to pressure U.S. 10-year Treasury yields higher. Oil prices fell early Friday as investors look for signs of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the key waterway for global oil transport. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 1.7 per cent to US$98.52 per barrel, remaining below the $100 mark although it’s still well above the roughly $72 a barrel level in late February before the start of the war. While many investors are also monitoring the meeting in Washington between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, analysts said limited concrete progress has been made, although the two sides touched on topics including trade, artificial intelligence and the Middle East. The U.S. dollar fell to 157.91 Japanese yen from 158.86 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1389, up from $1.1380. Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press
