TOKYO — Global shares were mostly higher Friday after China reported that its slowing economy showed signs of stabilizing in August.
France’s CAC 40 gained 1.5% in morning trading to 7,414.96. Germany’s DAX rose 1.1% to 15,980.43. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.9% to 7,738.95. The future for the Dow industrials was up 0.2%, while that for the S&P 500 added 0.1%.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 0.8% to 18,182.89, while the Shanghai Composite index was shed 0.3% to 3,117.74.
Late Thursday, the People’s Bank of China said it would cut the reserve requirement for banks by 0.25 percentage points as of Friday, “In order to consolidate the foundation for economic recovery and maintain reasonable and sufficient liquidity.”
Further boosting sentiment, the government reported Friday that China’s industrial output rose 4.5% in August from a year earlier, up from 3.7% in July. That is seen as a sign the economy may be breaking out of its post-pandemic malaise.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.1% to finish at 33,533.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.3% to 7,279.00. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.1% to 2,601.28.
SoftBank Group Corp., which fully owned chip d