World Shares Mixed After US Stocks Fall08/07 05:20

   World shares were mixed Friday after a modest retreat on Wall Street, while 
the price of crude oil edged lower.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mixed Friday after a modest retreat on 
Wall Street, while the price of crude oil edged lower.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 0.7% to 26,329.28, while the 
CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.3% to 8,728.22.

   Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 10,925.78.

   The future for the S&P 500 rose 0.2% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average was nearly unchanged.

   Selling of computer chipmakers and other stocks linked to the boom in 
artificial intelligence appeared to taper off a bit as Tokyo's Nikkei 225 lost 
0.1% to 65,606.71.

   The Kospi in South Korea dropped 0.6% to 6,258.77 and Taiwan's Taiex fell 
0.4%.

   The Shanghai Composite index gained 1% to 3,940.04 after China reported its 
exports grew at a slightly slower but still robust pace of about 24% in July on 
strong demand for electronics and other high-tech products. China's huge trade 
surplus narrowed last month and imports also slowed.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng picked up 0.5% to 25,668.03.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 slipped less than 0.1%, to 9,263.60.

   On Thursday, stocks declined on Wall Street as oil prices rose and more 
company earnings reports rolled in.

   The S&P 500 fell 0.2% and the Dow industrials fell 0.9%. The Nasdaq 
composite fell 0.1%.

   The price of Brent crude rose nearly 4% on Thursday as progress toward 
reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to securing stable oil supplies, remained 
unclear.

   Iran has said it is close to a deal with Oman for reopening the strait. U.S. 
President Donald Trump has also previously said a deal is close, but the 
conflict has had many starts and stops over the past five months.

   Reopening the strait may require a compromise since the Trump administration 
has ruled out Iran charging fees to ships. But Iran has insisted on some 
measure of control, saying the strait will not go back to being an 
international waterway.

   As of early Friday, a barrel of Brent, the international standard, slipped 
0.3% at $82.26. U.S. benchmark crude oil edged 0.1% lower, to $77.19 per barrel.

   A fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas once passed through the 
Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices have surged as high as $113 due to the war and 
higher prices have added more heat to inflation by raising the price of 
gasoline and raising costs for shipping.

   While markets are still weighed down by worries over the war and over a 
possible bubble in investments in artificial intelligence, strong overall 
corporate profits have helped allay concerns on Wall Street about shares being 
overpriced.

   Roughly 85% of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results and 
overall earnings growth for the period is shaping up to be the strongest since 
2021.

   Outside of earnings, SpaceX rose 6.1%. More than 911 million SpaceX shares 
held by early investors and employees became eligible for sale Thursday as a 
lockup period for the stock expired. That is more than double the shares that 
were initially offered to the public for sale during the initial public 
offering for Elon Musk's company.

   SpaceX jumped as high as $225 a share following its market debut in June, 
but has since slumped below its initial $135 offering price. The stock is 
currently trading around $115.

   The latest monthly jobs report, for July, will be released Friday.

   U.S. employment remains strong, but growth in hiring has been easing. A 
weekly report on Thursday showed the number of Americans applying for 
unemployment benefits rose last week, though layoffs remain in the historically 
healthy range of the past few years. Employers pulled back on hiring in June, 
adding only 57,000 jobs.

   In other dealings early Friday, the dollar fell to 158.36 Japanese yen from 
158.42 yen. The euro fell to $1.1530 from $1.1524.