Global Shares Fall on China Worries    09/28 05:12

   Global shares were mostly lower Thursday in subdued trading on looming 
worries about China property woes.

   TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares were mostly lower Thursday in subdued trading on 
looming worries about China property woes.

   France's CAC 40 shed 0.3% to 7,050.19 in early trading. Germany's DAX 
slipped 0.4% to 15,164.02. Britain's FTSE 100 edged down 0.6% to 7,544.91. U.S. 
shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down nearly 0.1% at 33,759.00. 
S&P 500 futures was virtually unchanged at 4,313.00.

   Trading in shares of heavily indebted Chinese property developer China 
Evergrande Group was suspended in Hong Kong. That followed media reports that 
the chairman of Evergrande, Hui Ka Yan, had been taken away earlier this month 
and placed under police watch.

   Evergrande is the world's most heavily indebted real estate developer and is 
at the center of a property market crisis that is dragging on China's economic 
growth.

   "The relatively quiet economic calendar today may lead sentiments on a more 
subdued tone, while reservations on risk taking may continue to revolve around 
developments on China's property sector," said Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at 
IG.

   The Hang Seng index slid 1.4% to 17,373.03. The Shanghai Composite was up 
0.1% to 3,110.48.

   Trading was closed in South Korea for a holiday. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 
225 dropped 1.5% to 31,872.52. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 slipped nearly 0.1% to 
7,024.80.

   After more than a decade in which the Federal Reserve would quickly cut 
rates in order to help the economy, still-high inflation is now discouraging 
the Fed from lowering rates. Its main interest rate is already at its highest 
level since 2001, and the Fed indicated last week it will cut rates in 2024 by 
less than earlier expected.

   A long list of worries is also tugging at financial markets. The most 
immediate is the threat of another U.S. government shutdown as Capitol Hill 
threatens a stalemate that could shut off federal services across the country 
as soon as this weekend.

   Stock prices have managed through past shutdowns relatively well, but 
conditions may be a little different this time.

   Several highly influential reports are supposed to come in the coming weeks. 
The next monthly jobs report is due on Oct. 6, and two big inflation reports 
are due the following week.

   Other threats looming over Wall Street include shaky economies around the 
world, a strike by U.S. auto workers that could put more upward pressure on 
inflation and a resumption of U.S. student-loan repayments that could dent 
spending by households.

   In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude slipped 3 cents to $93.65 a barrel. 
It rallied $3.29 to settle at $93.68 per barrel Wednesday, up from less than 
$70 in June. It's threatening to top $100 again for the first time since the 
summer of 2022. Brent crude, the international standard, was unchanged at 
$96.55.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 149.37 Japanese yen from 149.63 
yen. The euro cost $1.0518, up from $1.0509.