World Shares Mixed on Ceasefire Hopes  04/17 06:22

   World shares were mixed Friday even after Wall Street set another record, as 
investors watched for signs of more U.S.-Iran talks and an extension of the 
ceasefire of the Iran war that is expiring next week.

   HONG KONG (AP) -- World shares were mixed Friday even after Wall Street set 
another record, as investors watched for signs of more U.S.-Iran talks and an 
extension of the ceasefire of the Iran war that is expiring next week.

   Oil prices fell Friday, while U.S. futures edged up.

   In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 index was down 0.2% to 
10,567.17. France's CAC 40 was 0.4% higher at 8,293.21, while Germany's DAX 
gained 0.6% to 24,308.82.

   Asian stocks were mostly lower. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1.8% to 58,475.90 
after reaching an all-time high on Thursday. South Korea's Kospi was 0.6% lower 
at 6,191.92.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.9% to 26,160.33. Shares of Chinese spatial 
design software firm Manycore Tech, one of the so-called leading "six little 
dragons" technology companies of Hangzhou, was up more than 140% on its first 
day of trading in Hong Kong, fueled by the artificial intelligence boom. The 
Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1% to 4,051.43.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.1%. Taiwan's Taiex traded 0.9% lower, while 
India's Sensex gained 0.7%.

   U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he's open to extending 
the two-week ceasefire in the Iran war, and Iran's U.N. envoy said Tehran 
remained "cautiously optimistic" over negotiations with the U.S.

   As optimism over an extended ceasefire grew, oil prices fell early Friday 
after climbing a day earlier. Brent crude, the international standard, was 3.2% 
lower at $96.25 per barrel. It had surged roughly 40% since the beginning of 
the Iran war in late February. Benchmark U.S. crude was down 3.6% to $87.86 a 
barrel.

   Global energy shocks are growing over impacts of the Iran war, with the 
Strait of Hormuz remaining largely closed while the U.S. imposed a sea blockade 
on Iranian ports. The head of the International Energy Agency told The 
Associated Press on Thursday that Europe has "maybe six weeks or so" of jet 
fuel supplies remaining and warned of flight cancellations "soon."

   On Thursday, Wall Street set another record with the benchmark S&P 500 
closing 0.3% higher at 7,041.28, just a day after it eclipsed its previous 
all-time high in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 
48,578.72, and the tech-focused Nasdaq composite added 0.4% to 24,102.70.

   Shares of PepsiCo gained 2.3% following its announcement of 
better-than-expected quarterly results. U.S. logistics company J.B. Hunt 
Transport Services was 6.3% higher also on stronger-than-expected results.

   In other dealings, gold was less than 0.1% lower at $4,806.20 an ounce, 
while silver prices gained 0.8% to $79.36 per ounce.

   The U.S. dollar fell to 159.15 Japanese yen from 159.17 yen. The euro was 
trading at $1.1796, up from $1.1781.