European benchmarks are declining but Asian shares finish mostly higher

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TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares finished mostly higher Monday, cheered by a record finish last week on Wall Street, but European indexes were declining in early trading.

France's CAC 40 slipped 0.1% in early trading to 7,844.36, while the German DAX lost 0.6% to 23,504.07. Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 9,225.17. U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.3% at 46,524.00. S&P 500 futures shed 0.2% to 6,707.00.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.0% to finish at 45,493.66, rebounding from the decline late last week over concerns about the Bank of Japan's selling its holdings. Such concerns abated as markets began to see any move as gradual.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,810.90. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.7% to 3,468.65. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.8% to 26,344.14, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,828.58.

The recent Wall Street rally has come on expectations the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates in order to give the economy a boost. The central bank lowered them for the first time this year on Sept. 17.

If the Fed keeps cutting interest rates, that could give the struggling housing market a boost. But the growing expectations mean the market could be in for a disappointment and drop sharply if the Fed does not cut as much as traders expect.

Fed officials have said more rate cuts are likely this year and next. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank may have to react quickly because inflation is remaining stubbornly high in the American economy while the job market is slowing, all the while as President Donald Trump’s tariffs threaten to push inflation higher.

“Every time the market seems to be running out of momentum, it fools most of us by pushing to higher heights,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.

“As traders continue to monitor new highs on a daily basis, they are really focused on what Fed officials will have to say as they make the speaking rounds this week.”

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose 63 cents to $63.04 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 15 cents to $66.83 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar fell to 147.87 Japanese yen from 147.91 yen. The euro cost $1.1766, up from $1.1745.