Global stocks slip, oil price stabilizes after fall

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Global markets were mostly lower Wednesday as the price of oil stabilized and investors focused on geopolitical risks.

Global stock benchmark provider MSCI decided to include 222 large Chinese companies in 2018 to its Emerging Markets index, which is closely followed by fund managers.

Adding Chinese shares to the MSCI Emerging Markets index will reduce South Korean shares in the index, which could trigger outflows of at most 4.3 trillion won ($3.8 billion) of foreign investment, it said.

[...] that amount can be offset by the huge inflows of foreign investment to Seoul markets this year, according to South Korea's Financial Services Commission.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Chinese authorities have been garnering for this positive decision and this recognition of the country's efforts in opening up the financial market could really encourage more to be done that could lead to greater capital inflows," Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG in Singapore, said in a daily commentary.

Geopolitical tensions were in focus as President Donald Trump tweeted that China's efforts to pressure North Korea have not worked out.