Global stocks follow Wall Street higher ahead of Brexit vote

BEIJING – Global stocks followed Wall Street higher Tuesday as investors awaited a vote by British lawmakers on a plan to leave the European Union.

In early trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.5 percent to 11,596.37 and France’s CAC 40 added 0.4 percent to 5,288.02.

London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent to 7,103.90.

On Wall Street, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.3 percent.

Overnight, gains in tech stocks drove benchmark S&P 500 to its biggest daily gain since January.

That snapped a five-day losing streak for the S&P, which was coming off its worst weekly stumble this year.

Boeing Co.’s stock slumped 5.3 percent after the second fatal crash involving the newest version of its popular 737 jetliner.

An Ethiopian Airlines jetliner went down Sunday, killing 157 people. That followed the crash of another 737 Max 8 crashed in Indonesia on Oct. 29 that killed 189 people. Authorities in Ethiopia, China, Singapore, Australia and Indonesia have grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.

British lawmakers were due to vote Tuesday on a plan to leave the European Union following negotiations in Strasbourg over details including Britain’s border with the Irish Republic.

Britain is due to pull out of the EU in less than three weeks, on March 29, but Prime Minister Theresa May’s government has not been able to win parliamentary approval for its agreement.

The impasse has raised fears of a chaotic “no-deal” Brexit that could disrupt businesses in Britain and the 27 remaining EU countries. May said the latest changes should overcome lawmakers’ qualms about a mechanism to keep an open border between Britain’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

ASIA’S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.1 percent to 3,060.31 and Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.8 percent to 21,503.69. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.5 percent to 28,821.14 and Seoul’s Kospi gained 0.9 percent to 2,157.18. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 slipped 5 points to 6,174.80 and India’s Sensex advanced 1.1 percent to 37,456.62. Taiwan and New Zealand gained while Southeast Asian markets were mixed.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 27 cents to $57.06 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped 72 cents on Monday to close at $56.79. Brent crude, used to price international oils, added 23 cents to $66.81 per barrel in London. It gained 84 cents the previous session to $66.58.

CURRENCY: The dollar gained to 111.44 yen from Monday’s 111.21 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1280 from $1.1245. / gsg