Global Benchmarks Mostly Rise Wednesday09/30 04:51

   Global shares mostly rose in Wednesday trading, boosted by optimism about 
artificial intelligence and computer chips despite ongoing worries about the 
war in Iran.

   TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares mostly rose in Wednesday trading, boosted by 
optimism about artificial intelligence and computer chips despite ongoing 
worries about the war in Iran.

   France's CAC 40 gained 0.3% in early trading to 8,056.35, while the German 
DAX edged up 0.7% to 25,569.01. Britain's FTSE 100 rose nearly 0.7% to 
10,706.17.

   U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures rising 0.5% to 
51,940.00. S&P 500 futures gained 0.3% to 7,755.25.

   In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 1.9% to finish at 66,753.72. 
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9% to 8,789.30. South Korea's Kospi reversed 
earlier gains and fell 0.5% at 6,838.04. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.4% to 
24,613.10, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 3,842.19.

   SoftBank Group Corp., which invests in OpenAI, surged more than 6% in Tokyo 
trading. Also gaining were Japanese chip-related stocks like Renesas 
Electronics and Rohm Co.

   Oil prices are swinging sharply as the U.S. war with Iran drags on, helping 
to push Treasury yields to their highest levels in 24 years.

   Benchmark U.S. crude shed 0.3% to $89.11 a barrel. Brent crude, the 
international standard, edged down 0.3% to $102.29 a barrel. Brent is well 
above the roughly $72 it cost before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late 
February.

   Mediators continued to work with the United States and Iran on reaching a 
deal to end the fighting and open the Strait of Hormuz. President Donald Trump 
over the weekend rejected an offer from Tehran to reopen the key waterway.

   Wall Street will see several big economic updates this week that could help 
investors and the Federal Reserve get a better sense of where inflation is 
headed.

   U.S. inflation rates have remained stubbornly above 3% most of the year, 
well above the Fed's target rate of 2%. Wall Street expects the central bank to 
raise its benchmark interest rate again at its next meeting in October.

   "While it is easy to focus on the macroeconomic headwinds of bond yields and 
oil, the underlying U.S. economy remains remarkably resilient," said Tina Teng, 
market analyst at Moomoo, a global financial technology and online brokerage 
company.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 156.93 Japanese yen from 
157.27 yen. The euro cost $1.1352, up from $1.1347.