World Shares are Mixed After Strong Earnings Boost Stocks on Wall St

BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mixed on Thursday, with European stocks gaining in anticipation that the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs.

The rate-setting council of the ECB, which sets interest rates for the 20 countries that use the euro currency, is expected to lower its benchmark rate from 3.5% to 3.25% after figures showed inflation across the bloc falling to its lowest level in more than three years and economic growth waning.

Germany's DAX gained 0.8% to 19,594.72 and the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 1.3% to 7,585.76. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 8,367.96.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.

In Asian trading, Chinese markets fell back after officials in Beijing announced the government was expanding financing for housing projects to try to turn around a slump in the property market triggered by a crackdown on excessive borrowing by developers.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1% to 20,079.10, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.1% to 3,169.38.

China is due to announce its economic growth data for the April-September quarter on Friday. Economists are forecasting annual growth at about 4.5%, short of the government's target of about 5%.

China's leaders have promised more measures to help boost the economy, but so far have not provided details of stimulus on a scale that would satisfy investors hoping to see reforms that might address longer term problems such as massive local debt and weak consumer demand.

Plans announced so far amount to a "bailout" aimed at nurturing a gradual recovery instead of a "V" shaped short-term rebound in prices, economists at ANZ Research said in a report.

"Without announcing a major shift in housing policy stance, the policy measure will not induce massive investment demand in real estate," the report said. But it added that "The package of credit injection is an effective measure to reduce the financial risks and liquidity crunch faced by the developers and the related supply chains, fending off a subprime crisis in China."

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 0.7% to 38,911.19 after the government reported Japan's exports fell 1.7% from a year earlier in September, widening the country's trade deficit.

South Korea's Kospi slipped less than 0.1% to 2,609.30 and in Australia the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9% to 8,355.90.

Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.2% and India's Sensex was down 0.6%. In Thailand, the SET gained 0.7% a day after the central bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, to 2.25%.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 picked up 0.5% to 5,842.47 to recover much of the slide from its all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%, to set a record at 43,077.70. The Nasdaq composite added 0.3% to 18,367.08.

Morgan Stanley rallied 6.4% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

United Airlines flew 12.4% higher after reporting a milder drop in summer profit than expected and announcing plans to send up to $1.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services motored up by 3.1% after the freight company delivered better-than-expected results.

The price of oil rose early Thursday. After surging recently it has fallen back as worries recede that Israel will attack Iranian oil facilities as part of its retaliation for Iran's missile attack early this month. Iran is a major producer of crude, and a strike could upend its exports to China and elsewhere. Concerns about the strength of demand because of China's flagging economic growth have also hit oil prices.

Early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 25 cents at $70.64 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 21 cents to $74.43 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 149.58 Japanese yen from 149.64 yen. The euro rose to $1.0864 from $1.0862.