TOKYO — Global stocks were mostly lower in muted trading Friday, after Wall Street was closed for Thanksgiving, but China's market fell sharply as investigations into the securities industry widened to include two top brokerages.
France's CAC 40 slipped 0.5% to 4,921.22 and Germany's DAX edged down 0.1% to 11,309.69. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5% to 6,362.94.
US shares were also set to drift lower in an abbreviated trading session. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1% to 2,085.40. Dow futures dropped 0.2% to 17,761.00.
China's Shanghai Composite was down 5.5% at 3,436.30 after earlier falling more than 6%. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 retreated 0.3% to 19,883.94 and South Korea's Kospi fell 0.1% at 2,028.99. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.9% to 22,068.32.
Two major Chinese brokerages announced they are under investigation for possible violation of securities market rules in the latest aftershock of this summer's market plunge. A string of Chinese securities executives have been detained or questioned following a plunge in share prices that began in early June. The investigations were seen by many as an attempt by the ruling Communist Party to deflect blame for a market bubble that it engineered.
Markets have been wary about geopolitical tensions after Turkey downed a Russian plane that entered its territory from war-torn Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his nation is ready to cooperate with the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, while criticising the United States, saying it should have prevented its coalition ally Turkey from making such a move.
"Russia has threatened to retaliate economically against Turkey in response to the shooting down of its warplane, but both sides appear keen not to escalate any military tensions despite a war of words,'' said Chang Wei Liang of the Singapore Treasury Division of Mizuho Bank. "With Russia-Turkey economic ties being rather small in the context of the global economy, we think that risks of spillovers to the global recovery are rather small.''