- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Sabalenka downs Gauff in three sets to reach Wuhan final
- Israel warns south Lebanon residents to 'not return'
- Sinner tames Machac to reach Shanghai Masters final
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- Hezbollah fires at Israel as wars rage on Yom Kippur
- Analysts warn more detail needed on new China economic measures
- China tees up fresh spending to boost ailing economy
- China says will issue special bonds to boost ailing economy
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Dodgers drop Padres 2-0 to advance in MLB playoffs
- Alexei Navalny wrote he knew he would die in prison in new memoir
- Last-minute legal ruling allows betting on US election
- Despite hurricanes, Floridians refuse to leave 'paradise'
- Israel observes Yom Kippur amid firestorm over Lebanon strikes
- Trump demonizes migrants in dark, misleading speech
- X says 'alert' to manipulation efforts after pro-Russia bots report
- US, European markets rise before Boeing unveils sweeping job cuts
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Comoros shock Tunisia, Salah, Mbeumo strike in AFCON qualifiers
Stocks waver as US tech shares fall, Fed meets on rates
Stock markets wavered on Wednesday as shares in major US tech companies fell and investors awaited a key Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.
The Dow was up in early deals but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down more than one percent as shares in Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft fell.
The Fed meets later Wednesday, and while it is widely expected to keep borrowing costs unchanged, the statement and comments by boss Jerome Powell will be pored over for clues about its thinking ahead of the next gathering in March.
"Traders have every excuse to sit on their hands ahead of the US Federal Reserve's rate decision later this evening," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.
"The probability of a change to the Fed Funds rate is minimal. But there could be a market reaction if either the accompanying statement, or Powell's subsequent press conference provide any clues to the timing of future rate cuts," he said.
Investors are hoping the Fed will begin cutting rates soon after hiking them to their highest level in more than two decades to combat inflation.
The Fed meeting will be followed Friday by the closely watched non-farm payrolls report, which provides the clearest guide to the strength of the labour market.
Google-owner Alphabet and Microsoft both reported healthy revenue late Tuesday but their shares fell Wednesday as some investors took profits after some disappointing guidance from both companies.
"These were another set of decent numbers, more than beating expectations on the headline level, however given the gains seen since October the margin for error becomes miniscule in terms of an excuse for some profit taking," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Facebook owner Meta, Apple and Amazon are due to report Friday.
London was up but Paris was flat and Frankfurt fell in afternoon deals.
Recent inflation and growth data in Europe pointed towards slowing price increases, which raises the chances that the European Central Bank could start unwinding its own rate increases.
But investors are largely cautious after recent warnings from ECB officials that they are in no rush to cut.
"National data published so far suggest that headline and core inflation in the eurozone came down a little more than we had expected in January," said Andrew Kenningham, chief Europe economist at Capital Economics.
"This makes us more confident in our view that the ECB will begin cutting rates in April," he added.
In Asia, the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock markets fell as the crisis surrounding China's fallen property titan Evergrande is casting a shadow, stoking economic worries about the key energy consuming nation.
That sent oil prices lower on Wednesday, though they recovered some of their early losses.
- Key figures around 1455 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 38,495.72 points
New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.7 percent at 4,893.02
New York - Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 15,327.07
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,671.87
Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 7,675.17
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 16,932.59
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,657.57
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 36,286.71 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 15,485.07 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.5 percent at 2,788.55 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0876 from $1.0845 on Tuesday
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.60 yen from 147.61 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 0.8537 from 0.8540 pence
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2743 from $1.2700
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.3 percent at $76.79 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.0 percent at $82.05 per barrel
burs-gv/lth/
L.Harper--AMWN