Shanghai stocks bucked the trend lower in Asia, sending European markets higher
Asian stocks mostly finished lower, as investors remained jittery in the wake of
Monday's big plunge and amid ongoing weakness in crude oil. Japan's Nikkei was worst off, dragged 2.7% lower by weakness in the commodities sector, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi surrendered 0.9% and 0.2%, respectively. On the other hand, China's Shanghai Composite bucked the regional trend, with financials helping to lead the index to a 0.2% gain amid a stabilizing yuan.
European markets are higher at midday following four days of losses, as Brent crude futures recover from early losses to move into positive territory. London's FTSE 100 is up 1.5%, getting a big boost from upbeat same-store-sales data at Morrison Supermarkets, and shrugging off a sharp month-over-month drop in industrial output. Elsewhere, the French CAC 40 and German DAX have added a respective 2.1% and 2.5%.
