World Shares, US Futures Slip Monday   12/01 04:48

   U.S. futures and world shares were mostly lower Monday, with Tokyo's 
benchmark falling nearly 2% after the Bank of Japan's governor hinted at a 
possible interest rate hike.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- U.S. futures and world shares were mostly lower Monday, with 
Tokyo's benchmark falling nearly 2% after the Bank of Japan's governor hinted 
at a possible interest rate hike.

   Oil prices surged more than $1 a barrel.

   Early Monday, the future for the S&P 500 was down 0.6%, while that for the 
Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%.

   Germany's DAX lost 1% to 23,589.90, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5% to 
8,079.94. Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower, to 9,707.68.

   In Japan, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.9% to 49,303.28. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda 
told reporters he expects the central bank to discuss a possible rate hike at 
its Dec. 19 meeting.

   Japan's benchmark interest rate, at 0.5%, has remained near zero for years 
as its leaders struggled to spur faster economic growth and counter deflation. 
With inflation holding steady above its target of about 2%, the BOJ is caught 
between raising rates to counter rising prices and a weaker currency, and 
supporting easy credit to keep businesses borrowing and consumers spending.

   Regional reports on manufacturing activity are being closely watched for 
signs of how U.S. President Donald Trump's higher tariffs are affecting Asian 
economies.

   A survey of Japanese factory managers released Monday showed activity 
slowing in November. The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers 
index, or PMI, was at 48.7 last month, a slight improvement from 48.2 in 
October but still in contractionary territory on a scale of zero to 100 where 
50 marks the cutoff for expansion. It was the fifth straight month of 
contraction.

   "The latest PMI data showed that Japan's manufacturing sector continued to 
struggle with weak demand conditions in November, with firms signaling another 
solid decline in overall new business," Annabel Fiddes, economics associate 
director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a report.

   China's factory activity contracted for the eighth straight month in 
November, according to an official survey released Sunday, underscoring 
challenges for the country's economy despite an extension of the trade truce 
between the U.S. and China.

   But Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.7% to 26,033.26, while the Shanghai 
Composite index gained 0.7% to 3,914.01.

   In Seoul, the Kospi slipped 0.2% to 3,920.37. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 
declined 0.6% to 8,565.20.

   Taiwan's Taiex lost 1% and the Sensex in India shed 0.1%.

   Across Asia, PMI readings reflected weak factory activity for November, 
though exports from the region have been rebounding in recent months, Shivaan 
Tandon, Asia economist for Capital Economics, said in a commentary.

   Consumer spending during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday retailing bonanza 
was expected to exceed expectations, despite uncertainty over the outlook for 
the U.S. economy.

   During Friday's abbreviated post Thanksgiving session, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% 
and the Dow gained 0.6%. The Nasdaq gained 0.7%.

   Trading was halted for all three for hours on Friday due to a technical 
issue at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The CME said the problem was tied to 
an outage at a CyrusOne data center.

   Stocks rallied last week on hopes for another Federal Reserve rate cut after 
swooning in mid-November as investors fretted over the durability of the frenzy 
around artificial intelligence.

   Nvidia lost 1.8% Friday, ending the month with a double-digit loss. Oracle 
fell 23% in November while Palantir Technologies sank 16%.

   Some tech stocks did notch monthly gains, most notably Alphabet, which rose 
nearly 14%, due to excitement about its recently released Gemini AI model.

   The U.S. central bank, which has already cut rates twice this year in hopes 
of shoring up the slowing job market, is facing an increasingly difficult 
decision on interest rates as inflation rises and the job market slows. Cutting 
interest rates further could help support the economy as employment weakens, 
but it could also fuel inflation.

   The minutes of the Fed's most recent meeting in October indicated there are 
likely to be strong divisions among policymakers about the Fed's next step.

   In other trading early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained $1.14 to 
$59.69 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added $1.14 to 
$63.52 per barrel.

   The U.S. dollar fell to 155.25 Japanese yen from 156.14 yen. The euro rose 
to $1.1622 from $1.1596.

   Bitcoin dropped 4.3% to $87,115.