MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Global shares were mostly lower Tuesday, as a Japanese stimulus package and a decision by Australia’s central bank to cut its key interest rate failed to lift sentiment. The recent decline in oil prices also weighed on trading.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4 percent to 6,667.31. Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 percent to 10,190.80 and France’s CAC 40 was 1.4 percent lower at 4,345.95. U.S. futures also indicated a lower opening on Wall Street, with Dow and S&P futures both down 0.2 percent.
JAPAN STIMULUS PACKAGE: Japan’s Cabinet approved a fresh economic stimulus package on Tuesday worth more than 28 trillion yen ($275 billion), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s latest effort to get the stalling recovery back on track. The package aims to raise Japan’s GDP by 1.3 percent, but economists said the amount of actual public spending was only about a quarter of the total.
AUSTRALIAN RATE CUT: The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to a record-low 1.5 percent on Tuesday, seeking to jolt the nation’s sluggish economy amid low inflation rates. The board last cut rates in May, and economists had largely predicted Tuesday’s cut.
ANALYST VIEWPOINT: “Of course, with rates already at a record low and household data high, monetary policy isn’t as powerful as before,” Paul Dales of Capital Economics said in an analysis of the Australian rate cut.