World shares mostly gain as investors watch Trump-Xi summit

World stock markets mostly climbed Thursday after Wall Street set new records, with investors closely watching U.S. President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting focused on U.S.-China relations and Taiwan, though analysts expected limited immediate breakthroughs. In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 10,351.36, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.6% to 8,057.64, and Germany’s DAX gained 1.4% to 24,462.22. Asia saw mixed results: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1% after briefly hitting an intraday record, while South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.8% to a fresh high, driven by AI-related stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng remained flat, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.5%. U.S. futures edged higher, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reaching all-time highs, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped slightly. Oil prices showed no clear trend, with Brent crude up 0.2% at $105.87 per barrel and U.S. benchmark crude down 0.2% at $100.86. The International Energy Agency warned that supply losses from Iran’s Strait of Hormuz were depleting global oil inventories at a record pace. Investors also tracked updates on China’s imports of Nvidia’s advanced H200 chips, as U.S. business leaders, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Tesla’s Elon Musk, and Apple’s Tim Cook, met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The White House reported that Trump and Xi discussed U.S.-China economic cooperation and agreed the Strait of Hormuz must remain open. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dipped slightly to 4.46%, though it remained above pre-Iran-war levels. A report confirmed U.S. wholesale prices surged in April due to energy shocks, while the U.S. Senate approved Kevin Warsh as Trump’s Federal Reserve nominee. The U.S. dollar strengthened to 157.91 yen, and the euro fell to $1.1709.