Global Shares are Trading Mixed as Investors Wait for US Inflation Data

TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares were trading mixed Tuesday after a rally on Wall Street that regained some of the losses from the market's worst week in nearly a year and a half.

France's CAC 40 inched up less than 0.1% in early trading to 7,428.19, while Germany's DAX slipped 0.4% to 18,370.00. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5% to 8,228.92. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.2% at 40,784.00. S&P 500 futures fell nearly 0.3% to 5,465.25.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% to finish at 36,159.16. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% to 8,011.90, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5% to 2,523.43.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.2% to 17,234.09 after China's customs office reported that China's exports grew for a fifth consecutive month, in a sign of growing demand abroad.

Imports fell amid a slowing Chinese economy, growing just 0.5% compared to a year ago, falling short of the approximately 2% estimate by economists.

But exports in August expanded by 8.7% to $308.65 billion compared to the same period last year, according to data released Tuesday, beating economists' estimates for about 6.5% growth.

The Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 2,744.19.

Investor attention is now turning to the latest monthly updates on inflation at the consumer and wholesale levels that will be released later in the week.

The United States Federal Reserve has been using high interest rates to pump the brakes on the economy in order to stifle inflation. It's expected to start lowering rates later in September, which would ease the pressure on the economy, as it turns its focus toward protecting the job market and avoiding a recession.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 84 cents to $67.87 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 81 cents to $71.03 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 143.29 Japanese yen from 143.15 yen. The euro cost $1.1038, little changed from $1.1040.