World Shares Mixed, Oil Prices Fall    07/24 04:50

   World shares were mixed and markets in Asia skidded Friday, after Brent 
crude shot to its highest price since May as heavy fighting in the Middle East 
again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mixed and markets in Asia skidded Friday, 
after Brent crude shot to its highest price since May as heavy fighting in the 
Middle East again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas.

   U.S. futures edged higher after tumbles for two of Wall Street's most 
influential companies, Alphabet and Tesla, yanked U.S. stocks to their worst 
loss in a month.

   Looming over markets: The deepening crisis in the Middle East, worries over 
the a potential bubble in investments in artificial intelligence and another 
round of tariff hikes by U.S. President Donald Trump.

   The U.S. is imposing taxes of 10% to 12.5% on imports from 60 trading 
partners, accounting for 99% of U.S. imports, saying they failed to fully 
enforce bans on goods produced by forced labor, the Trump administration said 
Thursday.

   That move came just as the clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies 
the president imposed after a stinging defeat for other such tariffs at the 
Supreme Court.

   Such uncertainties have helped push the U.S. dollar to a 40-year high 
against the Japanese yen. A dollar bought 163.79 yen early Friday, down from 
163.85 yen and a level last seen in 1986.

   The euro rose to $1.1382 from $1.1377.

   In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.5% to 10,690.09. 
France's CAC 40 climbed 0.4% to 8,331.18, while Germany's DAX gained 0.8% to 
24,952.52.

   In Asia, South Korea's Kospi stuttered lower, falling 5.7% to 6,690.62. 
Samsung Electronics sank 7.6% and shares in computer chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 
8.3%.

   In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.7% to 64,611.15, led by losses for 
technology companies. SoftBank Group, which has massive investments in 
artificial intelligence, tumbled 7.1%.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1% to 24,963.23, while the Shanghai Composite 
index shed 1.6% to 3,814.20.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8% to 8,772.30.

   Taiwan's Taiex lost 2.7%, while India's Sensex traded 0.3% lower.

   On Thursday, the price of Brent crude shot to as high as $102 per barrel and 
settled at $100.69 per barrel, up 7%. Early Friday, it was down 3.1% at $97.58 
per barrel. Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around 
$72 per barrel.

   U.S. benchmark crude slipped 2.7% to $89.71 per barrel.

   The cause for the latest spike in prices: attacks on two Saudi oil tankers 
in the Red Sea. That threatens another avenue that oil companies use to move 
their crude from the Middle East to customers worldwide, along with the Strait 
of Hormuz.

   Underscoring the importance of the sea route for the economy, Trump 
threatened "major military punishment" against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who 
are backed by Iran, if they keep attacking ships.

   U.S. stocks fell under the pressure of rising oil prices, which raise costs 
for businesses and cut into their customers' ability to spend.

   The S&P 500 fell 1.2% and is on track for its first back-to-back weekly loss 
since March. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 506 points, or 1%, and 
the Nasdaq composite sank 2.2%.

   Higher inflation could push the Federal Reserve and other central banks to 
raise interest rates, which would slow economies and undercut prices for stocks 
and other investments.

   The European Central Bank held its main interest rates steady at its meeting 
Thursday.

   Gasoline prices tend to follow oil prices higher, and a gallon of regular 
costs an average of $4.09 across the United States, according to AAA. That is 
still below highs of roughly $4.56 in May, but it was at just $3.93 a month ago.

   Tesla tumbled 14.5% after Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company reported a 
weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Because Tesla one 
of the largest stocks in the S&P 500 by market value, its stock has more 
influence on the index than nearly every other.

   One of the few that is larger is Alphabet. Its stock fell 7.1% even though 
the parent company of Google delivered stronger profit and revenue than 
analysts expected.

   Investors focused instead on how much Alphabet is planning to spend on AI 
after the company raised its forecast for capital spending.