World Stocks Mixed Amid Trade Disputes

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Global stocks were mixed Friday as investors remained wary over trade disputes between China and the U.S. as well as between the U.S. and Europe that could hurt corporate profits and jobs. Some markets rebounded slightly but were unable to recoup their heavy losses for the week.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.7 percent in early trading to 7,607.88 and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.7 percent to 5,355.21. Germany's DAX gained 0.4 percent to 12,563.75. Futures augured gains on Wall Street. S&P futures rose 0.5 percent while Dow futures also advanced 0.5 percent.

ASIA'S DAY: Some Asian markets gained following heavy losses on previous days but finished lower than a week ago. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged up 0.2 percent to 29,338.70 while Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.8 percent to 22,516.83. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5 percent to 2,889.76 but remained more than 5 percent below the start of the week. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8 percent to 2,357.22 but finished the week nearly 3 percent lower. Australia's S&P-ASX 200 inched down 0.1 percent to 6,225.20. Stocks in Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asian countries were lower.

ANALYST'S TAKE: "Heightened global trade tensions remain a theme going into the end of the week," said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG. "The overnight action on Wall Street had once again been one of risk-off, continuing to cast the shadows into the end of the week for Asia."

TRADE TENSIONS: The U.S. is to begin taxing $34 billion in Chinese goods in two weeks while Beijing has vowed to retaliate with its own tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products. The European Union is set to slap tariffs on $3.4 billion in American products on Friday in response to the U.S. move to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from around the globe. Turkey also imposed tariffs on nearly two dozen U.S. products starting Thursday to strike back at Washington's sanctions on steel and aluminum. On Thursday, German automaker Daimler said the tariffs China plans to put on cars imported from the U.S. will contribute to a small decline in earnings this year.

OIL: Prices of oil rose ahead of an OPEC meeting on Friday. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 90 cents to $66.49 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, it dropped 0.3 percent to $65.54 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, rose $1.13 to $74.18 per barrel in London. It lost 2.3 percent to $73.05 a barrel on Thursday.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.12 yen from 109.99 yen while the euro strengthened to $1.167 from 1.160.

(BE)