- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Discord seen as online home for renegades
- US forecasts severe solar storm starting Thursday
- Ratan Tata: Indian mogul who built a global powerhouse
- One dead as storm Kirk tears through Spain, Portugal, France
- Indian business titan Ratan Tata dead at 86
- Fed minutes highlight divisions over rate cut decision
- Steve McQueen debuts new WWII film at London festival
- Nobel winners hope protein work will spur 'incredible' breakthroughs
- What are proteins again? Nobel-winning chemistry explained
- AI steps into science limelight with Nobel wins
- Overshooting 1.5C risks 'irreversible' climate impact: study
- Demis Hassabis, from chess prodigy to Nobel-winning AI pioneer
- Global stocks diverge as Chinese shares tumble
- Time runs out in Florida to flee Hurricane Milton
- Chad issues warning ahead of more devastating floods
- Creator's death no bar to new 'Dragon Ball' products
- Chinese stocks tumble on lack of fresh stimulus
- Trio wins chemistry Nobel for protein design, prediction
- Braving war: Lebanon's 'badass' airline defies odds
- US weighs Google breakup in landmark trial
- Chinese stocks tumble on stimulus upset, Asia tracks Wall St higher
- 7-Eleven owner confirms new takeover offer from Couche-Tard
- A US climate scientist sees hurricane Helene's devastation firsthand
- Can carbon credits help close coal plants?
- Boeing suspends negotiations with striking workers
- 7-Eleven owner's shares spike on report of new buyout offer
- Your 'local everything': what 7-Eleven buyout battle means for Japan
- AI-aided research, new materials eyed for Nobel Chemistry Prize
- The US economy is solid: Why are voters gloomy?
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
Stocks waver on US rate-hike jitters
Stock markets wobbled on Tuesday as investors braced for fresh signals from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell about the direction of interest rates.
Wall Street was mixed near midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the red while the tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose after opening lower.
In Europe, Paris and Frankfurt finished lower while London was up. Hong Kong and mainland Chinese indices closed higher while Tokyo was flat.
A blockbuster US jobs report last week has undercut hopes that the Fed will put the brakes on its rate-hike campaign, which it launched last year in an effort to tame decades-high inflation
"A strengthening labour market theoretically makes it less likely that the Federal Reserve will halt interest rate rises anytime soon," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
"The Fed needs to see both the jobs market and inflation start to cool before it can justify changing its stance on rates."
Focus was on a speech due later Tuesday from Powell, who "remains a big wild card every time he speaks", said Chris Senyek at Wolfe Research.
"We still believe that the Fed will be 'higher for longer'," Senyek added.
January's rally for equities was halted as investors contemplate an extended period of high borrowing costs aimed at bringing down inflation from multi-decade highs.
While there are signs that price rises are slowing, and the Federal Reserve acknowledged progress in its battle last week, the employment data Friday was seen as a body blow for many.
The reading, which showed more than half a million new posts created in January, led to speculation the Fed could have to unveil even more rate hikes this year, while any chance of a cut before 2024 all but evaporated.
"As the market eagerly awaits Powell's speech, it's worth considering that his words hold the power to move mountains, or in this case, markets," said Matthew Weller, global head of research at Forex.com and City Index.
For his part, US President Joe Biden is expected to highlight the strong job market and progress in mitigating inflation during his annual State of the Union address to Congress.
- Bounce for Adani -
London's FTSE 100 was boosted Tuesday by bumper annual profits from British energy giant BP, whose shares soared by seven percent
Sydney dropped Tuesday as the Australian central bank hiked interest rates to a 10-year high and warned of more to come as it struggles to get a hold on inflation.
Mumbai was also on the back foot, though shares in tycoon Gautam Adani's troubled empire soared following news it had moved to pay back loans of $1.1 billion after allegations of accounting fraud wiped more than $100 billion off the group's market value.
Adani Enterprises jumped as much as 25 percent before trading was suspended. They then pared some of those gains when they restarted.
Observers were also keeping tabs on geopolitical tensions after the United States shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been floating over the country for several days.
In other markets, oil prices surged after Iraqi Kurdistan suspended crude exports through Turkey as a precaution after a deadly earthquake rocked its northern neighbour and Syria.
- Key figures around 1650 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 33,843.91 points
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 7,864.71 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 15,320.88 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 at 7,132.35 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.1 percent at 4,209.31 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 27,685.47 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 21,298.70 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,248.09 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0704 from $1.0728 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2016 from $1.2020
Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.09 pence from 89.22 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 131.36 yen from 132.65 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.9 percent at $83.34 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 3.5 percent at $76.72 per barrel
A.Zimmermann--CPN