World shares cling near record highs

World shares cling near record highs

LONDON/TOKYO - World stocks clung close to record highs on Monday as worries about the Delta variant of COVID-19 offset positive sentiment from surging euro zone business activity and a welcome U.S. jobs report. The STOXX index of 600 leading European companies was flat, reversing earlier losses after data showed euro zone businesses expanded activity at the fastest rate in 15 years in June. Activity for British services firms also soared in June, albeit at a slightly slower rate. French shares sank 0.4% as Health Minister Olivier Veran warned France could be heading for a fourth wave of the pandemic due to the highly transmissible Delta variant. COVID-19 angst also weighed on Japan shares, with the Nikkei falling 0.6%, to a two-week low, following a surge in infections in Tokyo, just weeks before the city hosts the Olympics. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, was flat. China's blue chip stock index recovered from earlier losses to close 0.1% higher as pledges by Beijing to continue policy support for its tech sector helped counter worries about a crackdown on ride-hailing giant Didi Global and scrutiny of other platform companies in the country. The MSCI All Country World index closed