World markets mixed after Japan market dip

Associated Press

AMSTERDAM

With U.S. markets closed, world stocks ended Monday mostly higher — with Japan the notable exception as the Nikkei sold off sharply for the second time in a week.

The decline came after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Karoda said over the weekend Japanese interest rates could rise without causing instability, despite the country’s large national debt.

The Nikkei 225 shed 3.2 percent to close at 14,142.65, with exporters hit hardest due to the rising yen. That’s the reverse of the picture for most of this year, as yen losses have helped propel the index to a 36 percent gain since January.

Among major losers Monday, Nissan Motor Corp. dropped 6.8 percent. Yamaha Motor Co. tumbled 7.9 percent. Sony Corp. slid 6.3 percent.

The index also lost 7.3 percent Thursday, as investors have begun to wonder whether potential benefits of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s aggressive campaign to lift consumer prices and encourage borrowing and spending already have been priced in.

In European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.9 percent to 8,381.30. France’s CAC-40 advanced 0.9 percent to 3,994.25.

Markets in Britain and the U.S. were closed for public holidays.

European Central Bank board member Joerg Asmussen said in a speech in Berlin that with the Eurozone countries in recession, the bank would continue to pursue easy monetary policy “as long as necessary.”