- Harris holds slight edge nationally over Trump: poll
- Chelsea edge Real Madrid in Women's Champions League, Lyon win
- Japan PM to dissolve parliament for 'honeymoon' snap election
- 'Diego Lives': Immersive Maradona exhibit hits Barcelona
- Brazil Supreme Court lifts ban on Musk's X
- Scientists sound AI alarm after winning physics Nobel
- Six-year-old girl among missing after Brazil landslide
- Nobel-winning physicist 'unnerved' by AI technology he helped create
- Mexico president rules out new 'war on drugs'
- Israeli defense minister postpones trip to Washington: Pentagon
- Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder return
- Kenya MPs vote to impeach deputy president in historic move
- Former US coach Berhalter named Chicago Fire head coach
- New York Jets fire head coach Saleh: team
- Australia crush New Zealand in Women's T20 World Cup
- US states accuse TikTok of harming young users
- 'Evacuate now, now, now': Florida braces for next hurricane
- US Supreme Court skeptical of challenge to 'ghost guns' regulation
- Sparks fly as Orban berates EU 'elites' in parliament trip
- US finalizes rule to remove lead pipes within a decade
- Solanke hungry for second England cap after seven-year wait
- Gilded canopy restored at Vatican basilica
- Zverev scrapes through, Djokovic cruises to Shanghai Masters last 16
- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Gauff answers critics: 'It's hard to win all the time'
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- China says raised 'serious concerns' with US over trade curbs
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of other sex crimes
- Italy seek Nations League consistency as Germany continue rebuild
- From boom to budgeting as reality bites for Saudi football
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- England 96-1 after Salman's century lifts Pakistan to 556
- Hollywood star Idris Elba champions African cinema in Ghana
- Djokovic rolls Cobolli to make Shanghai Masters last 16
- Milan's Hernandez receives two-game suspension after referee rant
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Ex-Barcelona and Spain great Iniesta retires aged 40
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
Stock markets mostly drop, yen gains after 38-year low
Major stock markets mostly dropped Thursday as Europeans gears up for key elections, the US awaits inflation data and Japan contemplates measures to strengthen the yen.
The Japanese currency edged up against the dollar after hitting a 38-year low Wednesday, putting investors on alert for a possible intervention by Japanese authorities.
The Japanese unit's latest retreat came as uncertainty surrounded the Federal Reserve's timetable for cutting interest rates, and the Bank of Japan's caution in tightening monetary policy.
Traders sold equities as tech firms face pressure amid concerns that a long-running rally in the sector may have been overdone.
Investors were meanwhile awaiting outcomes in French and British general elections due over the next week.
"Today sees the US economy come into sharp focus, with the final GDP and core durable goods orders data released ahead of tomorrow’s crucial core PCE inflation release," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
"Signs of weakness in the jobs market have started to spread through alternate areas of the economy, with yesterday's new home sales figure falling to a 2024 low."
A forecast-busting read on the PCE index, the Fed's favoured gauge of inflation, could push back expectations for a rate reduction and put further upward pressure on the dollar.
In Japan, vice finance minister Masato Kanda said this week that authorities were keeping a close eye on movements in foreign exchange markets and were ready to step in with yen support 24 hours a day.
Their determination was put to the test after the yen fell to 160.87 per dollar late Wednesday -- its weakest since 1986 -- as US Treasury yields spiked.
Analysts say it is possible traders will keep pushing the envelope to see at what point the government will act, with some saying the unit could hit 170.
In Europe, France's political future was up in the air with the far right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a high-stakes parliamentary vote.
It comes ahead of a UK national vote on July 4, with the right-wing Conservatives led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on course to lose power to the centre-left Labour party.
- Key figures around 1100 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,202.55 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 7,570.40
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 18,181.83
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,913.02
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 39,341.54 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.1 percent at 17,716.47 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 2,945.85 (close)
New York - Dow: FLAT at 39,127.80 (close)
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 160.46 yen from 160.73 yen on Wednesday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0704 from $1.0680
Euro/pound: UP at 84.60 pence from 84.57 pence
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2651 from $1.2625
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.5 percent at $85.66 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $81.20 per barrel
Y.Kobayashi--AMWN