Global Stocks Mostly Lower Tuesday     09/28 05:52

   Global shares mostly fell Tuesday as concerns about China chipped away at 
investor optimism following a mixed finish on Wall Street.

   TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares mostly fell Tuesday as concerns about China 
chipped away at investor optimism following a mixed finish on Wall Street.

   France's CAC 40 declined 1.4% in early trading to 6,561.06. Germany's DAX 
slipped 0.8% to 15,443.31. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 7,035.80. U.S. 
shares were set for a retreat, with the future for the Dow Industrials down 
0.4% to 34,617.00. The S&P 500 future lost 0.7% to 4,404.25.

   In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.2% to finish at 30,183.96. 
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.5% to 7,275.60. South Korea's Kospi declined 
1.1% to 3,097.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.2% to 24,500.39. The Shanghai 
Composite index climbed 0.5% to 3,602.22.

   A power crunch in some parts of China has shut down factories and left some 
households without electricity under an effort to meet official energy use 
targets. That could have global repercussions, including on supplies needed for 
manufacturing throughout Asia, coming right ahead of the year-end shopping 
season.

   That's on top of parts and raw material shortages that already ail regional 
manufacturing because of supply disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

   Analysts say the power shortage in China could become prolonged as the 
demand for coal and natural gas surges during the winter.

   Another lingering market worry resonating from China is the possible 
collapse of one of China's biggest real estate developers, Evergrande Group, 
which is struggling to avoid a default on billions of dollars of debt.

   "Crucially, contagion risks loom large due to transmission within the 
property sector due to similar risks to home-buyers and banks via balance sheet 
exposures," said Vishnu Varathan of the Asia & Oceania Treasury Department at 
Mizuho Bank. "Fact is Evergrande is at best a risk that has temporarily abated 
but is far from abolished."

   The vote for the leader of Japan's ruling party, set for Wednesday, was also 
weighing on Tokyo trading, according to analysts, as players took a 
wait-and-see attitude. Four candidates are in the race to replace Prime 
Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after a year in office. No major 
economic or foreign policy changes are expected, as the pro-U.S. Liberal 
Democratic Party has ruled Japan almost continually in recent decades.

   Consumer spending has been the key driver for the economic recovery and it 
has been crimped in part by rising cases of COVID-19 because of the highly 
contagious delta variant, which remains a huge concern in Asia.

   In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 73 cents to $76.18 a barrel in 
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.47 to 
$75.45 per barrel on Monday.

   Brent crude, the international standard, rose 68 cents to $80.21 a barrel.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 111.26 Japanese yen from 110.00 
yen. The euro cost $1.1679, inching down from $1.1684.