Global Stocks Mixed Tuesday            10/17 06:01

   Global stocks were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street hit new highs, as China 
prepared to open a key political meeting.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Global stocks were mixed Tuesday after Wall Street hit new 
highs, as China prepared to open a key political meeting.

   KEEPING SCORE: In early trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.1 percent to 12,987.49 
while France's CAC 40 was unchanged at 5,362.06 and London's FTSE 100 held 
steady at 7,525.48. On Monday, the CAC 40 gained 0.2 percent and the DAX added 
0.1 percent while the FTSE slipped 0.1 percent. On Wall Street, futures for the 
Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were unchanged.

   ASIA'S DAY: The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 3,372.04 while 
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.4 percent to 21,336.12. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 
unchanged at 28,697.49 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.7 percent to 5,889.60. 
Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.2 percent to 2,484.37 and India's Sensex was off 0.2 
percent at 32,565.54. Benchmarks in New Zealand and Singapore gained while 
Taiwan and Bangkok retreated.

   WALL STREET: Stocks set records for a sixth straight week. Financial, 
technology and energy stocks rose while health care declined. The Dow rose 0.4 
percent and the S&P added 0.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite gained 0.3 percent.

   CHINA PARTY MEETING: The ruling Communist Party opens a twice-a-decade 
congress Wednesday to appoint President Xi Jinping to a second five-year term 
as leader. Investors are watching the party's personnel reshuffle for signs of 
possible policy directions. After spending his first term firming up his grip 
on power, analysts expect Xi to shift focus to economic policy, with an 
emphasis on tighter party control of state companies that dominate industries 
including banking, energy and telecoms.

   FED WATCH: Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will meet with President 
Donald Trump on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a second term, a source 
familiar with the administration's Fed search told The Associated Press. Trump 
has said Yellen, whose term ends Feb. 3, is one of several candidates. Trump 
criticized Yellen during his campaign but since taking office has praised her. 
The president met with Stanford University economist John Taylor last week, and 
interviewed former Fed board member Kevin Warsh and current Fed board member 
Jerome Powell last month. Trump has also said economics adviser Gary Cohn is 
being considered.

   ANALYST'S QUOTE: Dealers are digesting inflation data "while keeping an eye 
on geopolitical risk amidst the deluge of Fed chair speculative headlines," 
Stephen Innes of OANDA said in a report. "Also, it's worth keeping an eye on 
the expanding laundry list of geopolitical flashpoints," he said, citing Korea, 
Iraq, ISIS and U.S.-Turkish tensions. "The Middle East looks like a powder keg 
waiting to explode."

   IRAQ TENSIONS: Oil prices rose after Iraqi forces pushed their Kurdish 
allies out of the disputed city of Kirkuk, seizing oil fields amid tensions 
over last month's Kurdish vote for independence. The Kurds and the Iraqi 
central government in Baghdad have long been divided over the sharing of 
revenues from the oil fields outside Kirkuk.

   ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 12 cents to $51.99 per barrel in 
electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract climbed 42 
cents on Monday to close at $51.87. Brent crude, used to price international 
oils, added 25 cents to $57.82 in London. It rose 65 cents the previous session 
to $57.82.

   CURRENCY: The dollar declined to 112.12 yen from Monday's 112.18. The euro 
retreated to $1.1772 from $1.1798.


(BE)