Global shares mixed on caution after modest US gains

Tokyo:  Asian shares fell but European benchmarks edged higher Thursday as caution set in over company earnings reports, recent choppy trading in technology stocks and prospects for more economic stimulus for a world battling a pandemic.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5per cent to 5,591.22 and Germany’s DAX added 0.5per cent to 14,004.17.  Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6per cent to 6,548.01. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures inching up less than 0.1per cent to 30,638.5. S&P 500 futures were also up by nearly 0.1per cent, at 3,826.62.  Also on market players’ minds is the global vaccine rollout, which is becoming more organised in the U.S., but has yet to play out in much of Asia, except for China, where the pandemic started.  Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.1per cent to finish at 28,341.95, while South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.4per cent to 3,087.55. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.9per cent to 6,765.50.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.7per cent to 29,113.50, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.4per cent to 3,501.86.