Wed Aug 19—Major European equity indices closed mixed: Germany's DAX fell 59.64 pts (-0.23%) to 26,092.05; UK's FTSE 100 rose 10.76 pts (+0.10%) to 10,738.80; France's CAC 40 fell 7.45 pts (-0.09%) to 8,501.91; STOXX 50 fell 25.72 pts (-0.40%) to 6,442.45; Spain's IBEX 35 fell 109.83 pts (-0.55%) to 19,825.07; Italy's FTSE MIB fell 384.84 pts (-0.73%) to 52,633.00.

Media report says Rakuten Group will partner with German firm Helsin to help supply offensive unmanned aerial vehicles to the Japan Self‑Defense Forces and to seek SDF procurement and domestic mass production. On the 18th, CatalogHouse — a company operating catalogues and shopping sites — said Rakuten’s involvement in offensive drones conflicted with its corporate values and it will close its store on Rakuten’s e‑commerce platform. Rakuten’s core businesses include e‑commerce, financial services and mobile communications.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six major peers, fell 0.83% to 98.833 at the New York FX close on the 19th. EUR/USD rose to 1.1674 from 1.1576; GBP/USD to 1.3607 from 1.3534. USD/JPY fell to 158.32 from 159.60; USD/CHF to 0.7979 from 0.8125; USD/CAD to 1.3810 from 1.3906; USD/SEK to 9.4386 from 9.5395.