- Ex-Real Madrid defender and World Cup winner Varane retires
- Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
- Six hurt in Ecuador as firefighters battle blazes choking capital
- Florida girds for arrival of Helene as powerful hurricane
- German prosecutors charge three in Schumacher blackmail case
- Restoring nature, 'adaptation' helped limit Storm Boris impact
- Son says Spurs team-mate Bentancur 'almost cried' over alleged racial slur
- French minister vows to 'protect the French' after student rape and murder
- Harris and Trump target economy in close US election battle
- Zelensky alleges Russia plot on nuclear plants in defiant UN address
- 'Worst crisis': German Greens leaders quit after election losses
- Israel puts troops on alert for entry into Lebanon
- 'The UN has betrayed us': Israeli ambassador
- US new home sales slow slightly in August
- UN chief says sea level rise threatens 'rising tide of misery'
- Global stocks mixed after fresh China stimulus
- US-China progress sparks hope for COP29, says Azerbaijan
- Zelensky says Russia planning attacks on Ukraine nuclear plants
- Film legend Bardot, nearing 90, enjoys her 'silent solitude'
- Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator
- Google files EU complaint over Microsoft cloud services
- Finnish zoo to return pandas to China early
- At last! China's Zhang Shuai ends 24-match losing streak
- Global stocks trade mixed tracking China stimulus
- EU backs plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Jacks says new-look England need time to master ODIs
- Madrid's Mbappe suffers thigh injury before Atletico derby
- Russian MPs back adoption ban on countries allowing gender reassignment
- France minister vows new immigration 'rules' after student murder
- EU states back plan to downgrade wolf protection status
- Unions vow 'bitter resistance' as Volkswagen talks begin
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after hiring Serena's former coach
- Lady Gaga plants lipstick smile on 'Mona Lisa' in Louvre clip
- Man City confirm Rodri knee ligament injury
- Hezbollah's Fadi rockets: More power, little precision
- Naomi Osaka wants 'no regrets' after teaming up with Mouratoglou
- New Zealand flanker 'Braveheart' Sititi relishes his 'crazy' rise
- OECD calls for higher property taxes to fight debt
- Environmentalists smear Finland's parliament in red paint
- World Cup winner Varane retires
- Britain's Rightmove rejects higher £6.1-bn Murdoch bid
- Stocks rally stutters but Hong Kong, Shanghai up on new China move
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- Zelensky to take UN stage in plea to sustain support
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Global stocks mixed after fresh China stimulus
Stock markets diverged and oil prices fell on Wednesday as China's latest measure to bolster its economy, the world's second-largest, failed to spark another global rally.
Shanghai closed up 1.2 percent and Hong Kong advanced 0.7 percent after both markets surged more than four percent on Tuesday following a slew of Chinese interest-rate cuts this week.
Wall Street's main indexes moved in different directions in morning deals, with the Dow falling while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained and broad-based S&500 edged higher.
Both the Dow and S&P 500 finished at records on Tuesday.
London, Paris and Frankfurt stock markets dipped in afternoon trading.
Oil prices retreated after strong gains Tuesday.
"We've had consecutive days of a run-up and I think it's expected that the market takes a bit of a pause here," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital.
China's central bank on Wednesday announced a cut to its medium-term lending facility, the interest for one-year loans to financial institutions.
That came one day after the country unveiled some of its boldest measures in years to support an economy battered by a long-running debt crisis in the property sector and weak consumer spending.
"The problem is, the stimulus measures will take time to show in the economic data," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, adding that the actions "won't do much to fix the country's deepest issues" including a heavy debt burden.
Separately, the OECD called Wednesday for higher property taxes to fight an indebted global economy, which it said should grow slightly stronger than expected this year.
Traders were awaiting the release Friday of the US personal consumption expenditures index -- the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric -- hoping for an idea about its next move on interest rates.
The Fed's jumbo rate cut last week ramped up hopes that it would embark on a series of reductions as prices rise at a less heated pace and the American jobs market slows.
Officials are expected to continue easing policy to 2026, according to the US central bank's "dot plot" guidance on rates released last week.
The prospect of more cuts helped haven investment gold hit a new peak of $2,670.57 an ounce Wednesday, with the precious metal gaining also on geopolitical unrest, notably in the Middle East, according to analysts.
- Key figures around 1400 GMT -
New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 42,136.02 points
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 5,737.84
New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 18.128.45
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 8,262.73
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 7,557.54
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 18,905.86
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 37,870.26 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.7 percent at 19,129.10 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.2 percent at 2,896.31 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 42,208.22 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1185 from $1.1181 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3393 from $1.3412
Dollar/yen: UP at 144.19 yen from 143.18 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 83.52 pence from 83.33 pence
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $73.79 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.2 percent at $70.70 per barrel
D.Moore--AMWN