- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- AC Milan fall at Fiorentina after De Gea's penalty heroics
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Lewandowski hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- India maintain Pakistan stranglehold as Windies cruise at Women's T20 World Cup
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- Maresca hails Chelsea's 'fighting' spirit after draw with 10-man Forest
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Arshdeep, Chakravarthy help India hammer Bangladesh in T20 opener
- Lewandowski's quickfire hat-trick powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
Markets diverge ahead of Powell speech
Stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors treaded water ahead of a key speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell that could provide more hints of an interest rate cut.
Gold broke to a fresh record above $2,520 -- a third successive day of new peaks -- on Fed rate cut bets that would make the yellow metal more attractive to investors.
With recent data indicating that US inflation is slowing and labour market softening, there is widespread expectation the central bank will finally start next month to unwind its long-running tight monetary policy.
In New York, the Dow was slightly down in opening deals, while the wider S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were barely higher.
In Europe, the main indexes were marginally lower, leaving them well up from the beginning of last week.
US shares rose strongly last week as economic data soothed fears of a recession, while still leaving the door open to interest rate cuts.
"Participants (are) once again embracing the soft landing scenario and the prospect of an imminent rate cut by the Federal Reserve. That consideration is effectively the best of both worlds," said Patrick O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com.
Earnings from US stores Target, Lowe's and TJX are also due this week, providing more insight into consumer confidence after reassuring retail sales figures last week.
But the main focus is Powell's remarks on Friday to the annual symposium of global central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he could give signals about the Fed's plans for borrowing costs.
Bets have surged that officials will cut rates by 25 basis points next month -- with some even flagging 50 points -- followed by two more before the end of the year.
Powell raised hopes for a move at the bank's most recent meeting when he said it could come "as soon as" September, having previously said the Fed did not need to wait for inflation to fall to its two-percent target before reducing rates.
San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly told the Financial Times she had "more confidence" inflation is being tamed following recent data.
Her Minneapolis Fed colleague Neel Kashkari said in the Wall Street Journal that the prospect of a weaker labour market made talk of a reduction appropriate.
Earlier in the day, Tokyo rallied 1.8 percent, clawing back all Monday's losses, while Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Manila, Mumbai, Bangkok and Jakarta were also up.
However, Hong Kong and Shanghai retreated after recent advances, while Wellington also fell.
In company news, Tesla shares were up 1.3 percent after the European Union said it would spare its China-produced cars the full brunt of anti-dumping tariffs it plans to impose on other Chinese EV imports.
Tokyo-listed 7-Eleven owner Seven&i Holdings dropped more than 10 percent a day after surging almost 23 percent on news it had received a takeover bid from Canadian retail giant Alimentation Couche-Tard, the operator of Circle K.
The deal, which could be worth as much as $38.6 billion, would mark one of the biggest foreign acquisitions of a Japanese firm.
The dollar continued to slip against the euro, yen and pound on expectations that the interest rate differential in favour of the greenback would narrow.
Crude prices steadied after plunging Monday over growing hopes for a Gaza ceasefire as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues talks with regional leaders.
- Key figures around 1340 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 40,831.38
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 5,610.53
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 17,882.96
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.9 percent at 8,281.62 points
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,497.44
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 18,395.35
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,869.26
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.8 percent at 38,062.92 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 17,511.08 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 2,866.66 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1101 from $1.1086 on Monday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3023 from $1.2989
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 146.21 yen from 146.61 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.26 pence from 85.33 pence
West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $74.37 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.1 percent at $77.70 per barrel
P.Mathewson--AMWN