People walk past a bank’s electronic board showing the Hong Kong share index at Hong Kong Stock Exchange Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. Asian shares are mostly higher in muted trading on Monday, as worries about the pandemic keep optimism in check, despite the rally that closed out last week on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu)
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are starting higher on Wall Street as investors brace for the beginning of quarterly earnings reports from US companies, which get underway this week. The S&P 500 is up 0.7% in the first few minutes of trading Monday, while more gains for technology and commnications companies pushed the Nasdaq up almost twice as much, 1.3%. The S&P 500 is coming off its best weekly gain in three months. Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase will turn in their quarterly report cards Tuesday, as will Delta Air Lines and Johnson & Johnson. Bond trading was closed in the U.S. for Columbus Day.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: AP’s earlier story appears below.
Global shares mostly rose on Monday as investors weighed the prospects of more U.S. economic stimulus and rising coronavirus cases across the world.
U.S. shares were set for a steady outset to the week, with Dow futures rising 0.1% and S&P 500 futures up nearly 0.6%.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.8% to 4,985, while Germany’s DAX rose 0.6% at 13,126. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 6,024 after European Union officials say they finally are seeing progress in trade talks with the United Kingdom.
Chinese shares led advances in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.2% to 24,649.68, while the Shanghai Composite added 2.6% to 3,358.46.
But elsewhere, investors growing wary over upcoming earnings reports have been cashing in recent gains, helping pull Japanese shares lower. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.3% to finish at 23,558.69. Big exporters logged some of the largest losses, with Toyota Motor Corp. falling 0.8% and Honda Motor Co. shedding 1.8%.
Other Asian benchmarks rose. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5% to 2,403.73. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,132.00. Shares also rose in Taiwan, India and Southeast Asia.
Market sentiment improved last week as negotiations continued in Washington on delivering more aid to the ailing U.S. economy. Signs as of late Sunday were not promising, however. A new White House coronavirus aid proposal got bad reviews from both ends of the political spectrum.
On Friday the White House increased its offer to $1.8 trillion, up from $1.6 trillion, according to a Republican aide familiar with the plan. Pelosi’s most recent public proposal was about $2.2 trillion, though that included a business tax increase that Republicans won’t go for.
Worries persist that Congress and the White House won’t deliver more support for the economy as it reels from the impact of the pandemic and concerns that stock prices simply got too high during the summer.
Other major challenges remain, chief among them the still-spreading coronavirus pandemic, highlighted by President Donald Trump’s own COVID-19 diagnosis.
In energy trading, US. benchmark crude lost 59 cents to $40.01 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 59 cents to $40.60 per barrel on Friday.
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 56 cents to $42.29 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar fell to 105.44 Japanese yen from 105.53 yen last Friday. The euro slipped to $1.1802, from $1.1824.
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