World Shares Fall

Most world stock markets fell Friday as investors turned cautious following new US sanctions targeting North Korea and credit rating downgrades for China and Hong Kong.

European shares were mostly lower in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.2% to 7,251.81 and Germany’s DAX was down less than 0.1% at 12,594.11. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.3%. Wall Street was poised to open lower. Dow futures shed 0.1% to 22,301.00 and broader S&P 500 futures lost 0.2% to 2,496.60, AP reported.

“This week has seen Asian markets coming under pressure post-Fed FOMC meeting as the tightening bias squeezed emerging market stocks and currencies,” said Jingyi Pan, market strategist at IG in Singapore. She noted next week is also the last in China before a weeklong national holiday, so the “market may be exceptionally susceptible to outflows from retail investors, which could weigh upon price performance.”

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% to close at 20,296.45 and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.7% to 2,388.71. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.8% to 27,880.53 and the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 3,352.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 5,675.70. Taiwan’s benchmark fell and Southeast Asian indexes were mostly lower.

Oil futures were mixed. Benchmark US crude added 13 cents to $50.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $50.55 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 8 cents to $56.01 a barrel in London.

The dollar weakened to 111.98 yen from 112.49 yen in late trading Thursday. The euro climbed to $1.199 from $1.194.