Global stock markets were mostly higher Thursday, AP reported. France's CAC-40 gained 0.5 percent to 5,308.60 and Germany's DAX advanced 0.4 percent to 12,660.42. London's FTSE 100 retreated 0.3 percent to 7,543.86. On Wednesday, the DAX gained 0.1 percent while the FTSE 100 shed 0.1 percent and the CAC-40 lost 0.4 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 index were up just under 0.1 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5 percent to 3,102.62 while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 advanced 1.1 percent to 19,860.03. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 25,779.34 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 0.2 percent to 5,738.10. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.1 percent to 2,344.61 and India's Sensex was unchanged at 31,155.89. Benchmarks in New Zealand, Taiwan and Singapore rose while Bangkok retreated. U.S. stocks fell on a sharp drop for banks and a rare loss for tech companies. That offset gains for drug makers and consumer-focused companies. Banks fell after executives from JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America said their trading businesses are having a rough second quarter. Energy companies fell with oil prices. Investors picked consumer-focused companies, drug makers and high-dividend utilities and household goods companies. The S&P 500 lost less than 0.1 percent to 2,411.80. The Dow dropped 0.1 percent to 21,008.65. Benchmark U.S. oil gained 48 cents to $48.80 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $1.34 on Wednesday to close at $48.32. Brent crude, used to price international oils, advanced 45 cents to $51.21 in London. It dropped $1.48 the previous session. The dollar gained to 110.95 yen from Wednesday's 110.76. The euro edged down to $1.1246 from $1.1247.
