TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed in cautious trading Monday ahead of the Labor Day holiday in the U.S., when stock exchanges are closed.
France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3% in early trading to 7,611.64, while Germany's DAX fell 0.1% to 18,881.14. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, down less than 0.1% at 8,370.39. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.1% at 41,613.00. S&P 500 futures fell 0.1% to 5,654.25.
Investors were also looking ahead to the U.S. employment report set for release Friday for an indication of the strength of the American economy.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.1% to finish at 38,700.87, after the Finance Ministry reported capital spending by Japanese companies in the April-June quarter increased 7.4% from the previous year.
After a period of stagnation, Japan’s economy is showing signs of a recovery. Next week, Japan will release revised gross domestic product, or GDP, data, a measure of the value of a nation’s goods and services. The preliminary data released earlier showed the first growth in two quarters.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 8,109.90, while South Korea’s Kospi gained nearly 0.3% to 2,681.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.7% to 17,691.97. The Shanghai Composite dipped 1.1% to 2,811.04.
A bit of pessimism rolled in over China’s growth prospects over the weekend, as its National Bureau of Statistics reported that August manufacturing PMI, a barometer of industrial output, fell from 49.4 to 49.1. That was weaker than market forecasts.
Recent reports on the U.S. economy, including inflation, consumer spending and income, have been encouraging. The Commerce Department said its personal consumption and expenditures report showed prices rose 0.2% from June to July, up slightly from the previous month’s 0.1% increase.
That means price rises are slowing down, and that’s likely to lead to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time in more than four years. The market expects the Fed will start cutting rates later this month.
In other encouraging news, Friday’s Commerce Department report showed Americans stepped up their spending by 0.5% from June to July and incomes rose 0.3%, faster in July than the previous month.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 5 cents to $73.60 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 6 cents to $76.99 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 146.68 Japanese yen from 146.18 yen. The euro cost $1.1071, up from $1.1053.
Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
FILE - Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)
FILE - A custodian cleans up an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm in Tokyo, on Aug. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Sphere, Las Vegas' transformational new masterpiece, stole the show Saturday night at UFC 306, but Merab Dvalishvili put on a performance not to be forgotten in capturing the bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision over Sean O'Malley.
The judges scored it 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 in favor of Dvalishvili (18-4), a 33-year-old from the country of Georgia. He used a ground-and-pound attack to control most of the action against O'Malley (18-2).
O'Malley, 29, who lives in Phoenix, was a slight -125 favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.
Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the women's flyweight championship with all three judges awarding her a 50-45 victory over Alexa Grasso in the co-main event.
This was the third consecutive meeting between the two after Grasso took Shevchenko's belt in the first match. The second was a draw.
The third one wasn't closer, with the 36-year-old Shevchenko (24-4-1) using a ground-and-pound strategy to win all three rounds over 31-year-old Grasso (16-4-1) on the judges' cards.
“It's so huge," said Shevchenko, who is from Kyrgyzstan. "It like a dream come true fighting in the Sphere.”
This show at the Sphere was unlike any show in the UFC's history, taking full advantage of the 160,000-square-foot high-definition LED screen to create an outer-space type feel as the pay-per-view portion of the card was about to begin.
UFC President Dana White called this card his “love letter to Mexico,” and mini stories of the neighboring country's history and culture as part of a celebration of the country’s Independence Day weekend were told on the screen throughout the evening. One created the illusion the arena was moving as the video played out.
Seven Mexican fighters, including Grasso, populated the card, and chants from the crowd of “Mexico” broke out several times.
Aztec pyramids seeming to hover over one contest in the octagon changed from night to morning. Another fight took place with a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) holiday scene that included dressed up male and female skeletons lighting up the screen. Other matches had similar scenes dominating the background.
The screen was used throughout to introduce a tell-of-the-tape of each fighter, and highlights were shown on the building's exterior.
White has said this is a one-and-done given the overwhelming undertaking to put together the show as well as the roughly $20 million cost. To help pay for it, White secured a title sponsor for the first time for one of his PPV cards, making the official name Riyadh Season Noche UFC.
But White has waffled as the event approached, and it's possible the UFC will have future cards at the Sphere, those the organization is contractually obligated to MGM Resorts, which includes T-Mobile Arena. An exception was made for this night and perhaps there will be more.
T-Mobile had its own tribute to Mexican Independence Day three miles away with Canelo Alvarez winning by unanimous decision as the headline fighter.
UFC's in-house production team crew worked with Antigravity Academy production led by founder and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Carlos López Estrada to put together this event.
Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, considered by many to be the greatest fighter in UFC history, will face Stipe Miocic in UFC 309 on Nov. 16 at New York's Madison Square Garden. Jones has not fought since moving up from light heavyweight to claim the heavyweight crown with a first-round submission of Ciryl Gane on March 4, 2023.
Jones, who was in the crowd wearing a black cowboy hat, and Miocic were scheduled to fight last year, but a pectoral injury forced Jones to postpone.
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
Attendees watch Yazmin Jauregui fights Ketlen Souza in a women's strawweight mixed martial arts bout during UFC 306 at the Sphere, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Attendees wait for the main mixed martial arts event during UFC 306 at the Sphere, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Valentina Shevchenko, right, fights Alexa Grasso in a women's flyweight mixed martial arts title bout during UFC 306 at the Sphere, Saturday, Sep. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Valentina Shevchenko celebrates after defeating Alexa Grasso in a women's flyweight mixed martial arts title bout during UFC 306 at the Sphere, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili appear on screen during UFC 306 at the Sphere, Saturday, Sep. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (Wade Vandervort/Las Vegas Sun via AP)
