Global Stocks Begin the Week Higher

TOKYO (AP) -- Global stocks were mostly higher Monday as investors weighed the prospects of a further U.S. interest rate hike and a report on business sentiment out of Japan.

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 added 0.3 percent in early trading to 4,459.44, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent to 6,960.92. German markets were closed. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 0.04 percent at 18,227. S&P 500 futures inched up 0.01 percent to 2,160.70.

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ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 percent to finish at 16,598.67. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8 percent to 5,478.50. Chinese and South Korean markets were closed.

GERMANY: Deutsche Bank has tried to reassure investors about its financial health. Investors hope Deutsche Bank will be able to negotiate down the massive cost of settling a U.S. investigation into mortgage securities. Deutsche Bank is the largest lender in Germany, and investors had been concerned about not only its plunging stock price, but the potential effect on the financial system if Deutsche Bank gets into serious trouble and the German government does not help it.

THE QUOTE: "Now that there is a prospect of a second rate hike in the U.S., and people are asking how high the U.S. policy interest rate will be able to go, attention is focusing on the secular stagnation theory, which claims that neutral real interest rates have fallen," says a market report from Nomura Securities in Singapore.

TANKAN: The Bank of Japan "Tankan" quarterly survey of business sentiments released Monday showed no change among major manufacturers. The Japanese economy has been stagnating for years, but hopes are high that the central bank's easy lending will pull growth out of the doldrums.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 9 cents to $48.15 a barrel, while brent crude, the international standard, rose 25 cents to $50.44 a barrel in London.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 101.33 yen from 101.03 yen late last week in Asia. The euro rose to $1.124 from $1.118.

(KA)

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