BANGKOK—World shares fell on Friday after technology companies led Wall Street benchmarks lower as investors weighed the implications of higher interest rates, surging coronavirus cases, and tensions between Beijing and Washington. Benchmarks declined in Paris, London, Frankfurt, and Tokyo but rose in Shanghai. U.S. shares dropped a day after the Federal Reserve said it’s preparing to begin raising rates next year to fight inflation, and traders were also considering moves by other central banks. The Bank of Japan said Friday it would reduce some of its pandemic support measures, reducing purchases of corporate bonds to pre-crisis levels after March. It also extended by six months extra support for lending to small companies. But its board meeting otherwise kept ultra-loose monetary policy mostly unchanged. “Japan’s economy has picked up as a trend, although it has remained in a severe situation due to the impact of COVID-19 at home and abroad,” it …
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