Global Stocks Higher Thursday          11/15 06:01

   Global stock markets rebounded Thursday after Britain's Cabinet endorsed a 
plan to leave the European Union, but the pound sagged after discord emerged 
with the resignation of the Brexit minister.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Global stock markets rebounded Thursday after Britain's 
Cabinet endorsed a plan to leave the European Union but the pound sagged after 
discord emerged with the resignation of the Brexit minister.

   KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.5 percent to 
7,071.60 and German's DAX advanced 0.5 percent to 11,473.84. France's CAC 40 
rose 0.5 percent to 5,094.94. On Wednesday, the CAC 40 lost 0.7 percent, the 
DAX dropped 0.5 percent and the FTSE 100 shed 0.3 percent. On Wall Street, 
futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average 
were up 0.5 percent.

   ASIA'S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.4 percent to 2,668.17 and 
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.7 percent to 26,103.34. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 shed 
0.2 percent to 21,803.62 and Seoul's Kospi advanced 1 percent to 2,088.06. 
Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 added 3 points to 5,736.00. India's Sensex rose 0.6 
percent to 35,339.44. Bangkok and New Zealand retreated while Taiwan and other 
Southeast Asian markets rose.

   WALL STREET: U.S. markets were dragged down by losses for tech companies, 
banks and insurers. Apple Inc. lost 2.8 percent. Bond prices rose as traders 
shifted money into low-risk assets. That pulled yields down, which hurts banks 
by driving interest rates on loans lower. Energy stocks rebounded as crude oil 
prices snapped a 12-day losing streak. The S&P 500 and Dow both lost 0.8 
percent. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9 percent.

   BREXIT: Prime Minister Theresa May persuaded the British Cabinet to back an 
agreement to separate from the European Union. May said the decision is a 
"decisive step" toward finalizing the exit deal with the EU, though it was 
unclear whether Parliament will go along. The deal would allow Britain to stay 
in a customs union while a trade treaty is negotiated. The Brexit minister, 
Dominic Raab, announced he was resigning because he couldn't support the 
agreement. The pound fell 1 percent after Raab's announcement, a wide margin 
for a developed country currency.

   ANALYST'S TAKE: "Despite the U.K. Cabinet backing the new Brexit draft plan, 
the boost for markets had been short-lived with the sea of worries overruling 
sentiment," said Jingyi Pan of IG in a report. Asian markets are "taking after 
the poor leads from Wall Street" due to "little data" due out in the region.

   AUSTRALIAN JOBS: Government data showed employment rose by 32,800 in 
October, above market expectations for a gain of 20,000. The jobless rate 
stayed at 5 percent. The annual rate of job creation rose to 2.5 percent.

   ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 11 cents to $56.36 per barrel in 
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 56 
cents on Wednesday to close at $56.25. Brent crude, used to price international 
oils, advanced 38 cents to $66.50 per barrel in London. It gained 65 cents the 
previous session to $66.12.

   CURRENCY: The dollar weakened to 113.49 yen from Wednesday's 113.63 yen. The 
euro strengthened to $1.1340 from $1.1309. 


(BE)