European benchmarks are declining, while Asia derived some optimism from rising technology stocks on Wall Street. Benchmarks fell in early Tuesday trading in France, Germany and Britain. U.S. futures also declined. In Asia, benchmarks finished higher in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Shanghai. But stocks fell in Hong Kong as shares in technology and games company Tencent plunged after it was hit by U.S. sanctions. Shares in Nippon Steel, whose attempt to take over U.S. Steel is being blocked by the Biden administration, fell 1.5%, but its chief executive vowed to keep pushing the deal.
