- 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
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
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- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
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- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
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Euro slips, eurozone markets edge up after snap French election
The euro slipped on Monday but eurozone stock markets edged up after early losses following snap French elections in which a hung parliament appeared the likeliest outcome.
In France, the left was set to emerge as the biggest group in a new parliament, beating out a resurgent far right in a vote called by President Emmanuel Macron three years ahead of schedule.
Macron's centrist alliance will have fewer seats in parliament, but held up better than expected.
The outcome, in which no bloc is expected to have an outright majority, has left the country in a "thick fog" of uncertainty, according to one pollster, with the euro dropping around 0.4 percent from Friday's levels before clawing back some of its losses.
"The best that can be said is that neither the (left-wing) NFP nor (far-right) National Rally will be able to implement their respective electoral manifestos in full, which would most worry investors fretful about France's fiscal situation," Alvin Tan of RBC capital markets said.
While "the worst outcome for the euro has been averted for now", Tan added, uncertainty remains "and the fiscal balance is unlikely to improve significantly as a result".
Paris's CAC 40 benchmark stocks index sank at the open Monday, but recovered to post modest gains in morning trade, as did Frankfurt's DAX. The FTSE 100 index in London was more or less flat.
Asian markets were mostly down, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropping nearly two percent by Monday afternoon.
Tokyo's Nikkei index seesawed in and out the red throughout the day before finally ending slightly down, while the broader Topix shed more than one percent after hitting a new high last week.
Taipei was a rare bright spot, posting solid gains on the back of a surge in shares of chipmaking giant TSMC, which added nearly three percent over the course of the day.
Sydney, Seoul, Mumbai, Jakarta and Singapore were down, while Manila rose.
Thousands of workers in South Korea walked off the job at tech giant Samsung Monday morning as they kicked off a three-day general strike, according to a union rep, who warned key memory chip production would be affected.
Samsung Electronics is the world's largest memory chip maker and accounts for a significant chunk of global output.
Workers gathered outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, an hour south of Seoul, with National Samsung Electronics Union head Son Woo-mok warning: "Today's general strike is just the beginning."
However, the tech giant's shares were slightly up from Friday's price, which was buoyed by a company forecast that second-quarter profits would beat expectations by more than 25 percent.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit fresh highs on Friday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also ticked upwards after official data showed the US labour market cooling, raising expectations of a September interest rate cut.
Investors will be looking for more clues in an appearance by Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell before the US Senate banking committee Tuesday, as well as fresh consumer price index data due later in the week.
- Key figures around 0745 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 40,780.70 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.7 percent at 17,497.32
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1 percent at 2922.45 (close)
London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 8,202.75
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2811 from $1.2816 on Friday
Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.56 pence from 84.57 pence
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0832 from $1.0842
Dollar/yen: UP at 160.84 yen from 160.78 yen
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $82.63 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $86.14 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 39,375.87 points (close)
A.Jones--AMWN