World Shares Mixed Thursday            06/12 04:45

   World shares were trading mixed early Thursday after Wall Street's rally 
stalled, as investors appeared not to react much to the results of the latest 
round of China-U.S. trade talks.

   TOKYO (AP) -- World shares were trading mixed early Thursday after Wall 
Street's rally stalled, as investors appeared not to react much to the results 
of the latest round of China-U.S. trade talks.

   Germany's DAX lost 0.7% to 23,787.77 and the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.4% to 
7,744.41.

   Britain's FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 8,863.07.

   The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 
0.3%.

   In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to 38,216.06.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng sank 0.5% to 24,234.80, while the Shanghai Composite 
index edged 0.1% lower to 3,404.66.

   In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.9% to 2,933.44, while Australia's S&P/ASX 
200 edged 0.1% higher to 8,604.50.

   Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.8%.

   On Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 6,022.24 for its first loss in four 
days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged at 42,865.77 
after edging down by 1 point. The Nasdaq composite slipped 0.5% to 3,400.30.

   Several Big Tech stocks led the way lower, and a 1.9% drop for Apple was the 
heaviest weight on the market. It's been listless this week after unveiling 
several modest upcoming changes to the software that runs its devices.

   The action was stronger in the bond market, where Treasury yields eased 
after a report suggested President Donald Trump's tariffs are not pushing 
inflation much higher, at least not yet.

   U.S. consumers had to pay prices for food, gasoline and other costs of 
living that were 2.4% higher overall in May than a year earlier. That was up 
from April's 2.3% inflation rate, but it wasn't as bad as the 2.5% that Wall 
Street was expecting.

   A fear has been that Trump's wide-ranging tariffs could ignite an 
acceleration in inflation, just when it had seemed to get nearly all the way 
back to the Federal Reserve's 2% target from more than 9% three summers ago. It 
hasn't happened, though economists warn it may take months more to feel the 
full effect of Trump's tariffs.

   Trump said Wednesday that China will supply rare-earth minerals and magnets 
to the United States, while his government will allow Chinese students into 
U.S. universities in a deal that still needs an agreement by him and by China's 
leader. Trump also said that "President XI and I are going to work closely 
together to open up China to American Trade. This would be a great WIN for both 
countries!!!"

   Investors are still hoping for a more sweeping trade deal that would ease 
tensions between the world's two largest economies.

   Hopes for such deals between the United States and countries around the 
world have been one of the main reasons the S&P 500 has charged nearly all the 
way back to its all-time high after dropping roughly 20% below a couple months 
ago. Without them, the fear is that Trump's high tariffs could drive the 
economy into a recession while pushing inflation higher. The S&P 500 is now 
sitting 2% below its record.

   Tesla swung between gains and losses before finishing with a rise of 0.1% to 
continue its shaky run. It's been recovering much of its big losses taken last 
week after Elon Musk's relationship with Trump imploded, which in turn raised 
fears about a loss of business for the electric-vehicle company. Musk on 
Wednesday backed away from some of his earlier comments and said they went "too 
far."

   In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.41% from 
4.47% late Tuesday. Shorter-term yields, which more closely track expectations 
for what the Federal Reserve will do with overnight interest rates, fell more.

   Wednesday's better-than-expected reading on inflation raised expectations 
along Wall Street that the Fed could cut its main interest rate at least twice 
by the end of the year.

   In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 46 cents to 
$67.69 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 53 cents to 
$69.24 per barrel.

   The U.S. dollar slipped to 143.90 Japanese yen from 144.60 yen. The euro 
rose to $1.1518 from $1.1487.