- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
- Phasing out teen smoking could save 1.2 mn lives: study
- 'Welcome relief': Asia producers hail EU deforestation law delay
- Japan PM slated to announce plans for 'happiness index'
- Turkish inflation falls less than expected in September at 49.4%
- Easing inflation lifts profit at UK supermarket Tesco
- Skiing calls on UN climate science to combat melting future
- China wine industry looks to breed climate resilience
- Tokyo rallies on weak yen, Hong Kong drops after surge
- Dutch airline KLM unveils 'firm' cost-cutting measures
- Carpe diem: the Costa Rican women turning fish into fashion
- Senegal looks to aquaculture as fish stocks dwindle
- Will AI one day win a Nobel Prize?
- Climate change, economics muddy West's drive to curb Chinese EVs
Stocks mostly retreat on mixed earnings; pound up on new PM
Stock markets mostly fell Tuesday as traders reacted to mixed earnings, while Hong Kong steadied after the previous session's rout triggered by China President Xi Jinping tightening his grip on power.
The pound climbed as markets welcomed the appointment of former finance chief Rishi Sunak as Britain's prime minister.
Sunak on Tuesday promised to bring economic stability after the turmoil that forced predecessor Liz Truss out of Downing Street.
"Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis," he told the nation in a televised address.
He vowed to place "economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government's agenda".
"This will mean difficult decisions to come," Sunak added.
In commodities trading meanwhile, oil and European gas prices slid further on weaker demand expectations.
Some market support came from reports suggesting the Federal Reserve could slow its pace of interest rate hikes.
The central bank's policy of ramping up US borrowing costs to fight decades-high inflation has hammered global markets this year as investors worry that they will send the economy into recession.
"Investors are getting more confident that inflation will soften as the consumer rethinks massive purchases," said Edward Moya, analyst at Oanda trading group.
"Fed rate hike expectations will remain volatile, but expectations are growing that a weaker economy will let the Fed pause their tightening after the February policy meeting."
It comes as investors pore over earnings updates from some of the world's biggest companies.
Shares in HSBC slumped 7.5 percent after the banking giant warned on bad loans owing to global economic headwinds.
Elsewhere, General Motors confirmed its full-year financial forecast despite a "challenging environment", saying that consumer demand remained strong.
The big US automaker scored third-quarter profits of $3.3 billion on soaring revenues.
Earlier Tuesday, US tech giant Meta resolved a major WhatsApp outage that prevented its popular service from connecting or sending messages.
- Key figures around 1115 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 6,961.25 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.9 percent at 12,820.86
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 6,145.10
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,523.07
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 27,250.28 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.1 percent at 15,165.59 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 2,976.28 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 31,499.62 (close)
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.1328 from $1.1281 on Monday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.92 yen from 148.95 yen
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $0.9854 from $0.9876
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.01 pence from 87.56 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.4 percent at $83.39 per barrel
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 1.4 percent at $91.94 per barrel
burs/bcp/rl
Y.Ibrahim--CPN