World Stocks Decline on Stalled Talks  04/24 04:48

   World shares were mostly lower while oil prices pushed higher Friday as 
talks on ending the war between the U.S. and Iran remained stalled.

   HONG KONG (AP) -- World shares were mostly lower while oil prices pushed 
higher Friday as talks on ending the war between the U.S. and Iran remained 
stalled.

   U.S. futures also wavered after Wall Street pulled back from its all-time 
highs. The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher, while that for the Dow 
Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2%.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.2% to 24,106.17 and the CAC 
40 in Paris dropped 1% to 8,147.70. Britain's FTSE 100 sagged 0.6% to 10,397.64.

   During Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 59,716.18, led by 
heavy buying of technology stocks. On Thursday, it hit a record intraday high 
above 60,000.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng reversed earlier losses to add 0.2%, closing at 
25,978.07, while the Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% lower to 4,079.90.

   South Korea's Kospi closed nearly unchanged at 6,475.63.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.1% to 8.786.50.

   Taiwan's Taiex jumped 3.2% as computer chipmaker TSMC, which makes up a key 
part of the index, gained 5.1%.

   India's Sensex lost 1.4%.

   Progress on another round of peace talks between the United States and Iran 
was limited even after President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. was 
indefinitely extending a two-week ceasefire with Iran, a day before it was 
originally set to expire.

   The Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for global energy where roughly a 
fifth of the world's oil and natural gas normally passed through before the 
war, remains largely closed and a U.S. sea blockade of Iranian ports is still 
in effect. After the U.S. imposed a blockade on Iranian ports last week, Iran 
attacked three ships in the strait on Wednesday and seized two of them.

   Trump said Thursday that the U.S. military was intensifying its 
mine-clearing efforts in the strait and he ordered the military to "shoot and 
kill" small Iranian boats laying mines in the area.

   Oil prices have remained elevated since the Iran war began on Feb. 28.

   The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June rose 3.1% on 
Thursday to settle at $105.07 and at one point topped $107. The price for a 
barrel of Brent to be delivered in July, which is the more popular contract for 
traders, settled at $99.35 after rising as high as $101.

   Early Friday, Brent crude was up 98 cents at $100.33 a barrel. U.S. 
benchmark crude picked up 81 cents to $96.66 per barrel.

   The global energy shock caused by the Iran war has threatened to worsen 
inflation in many countries and shaken world markets. But Wall Street has still 
hit record highs, helped by strong corporate earnings and some optimism that 
the war will end soon.

   On Thursday, the benchmark S&P 500 dropped 0.4%, halting a weekslong rally 
that lifted it to new all-time highs. The Dow industrials also declined 0.4%, 
while the technology stocks-heavy Nasdaq composite dropped 0.9%.

   Shares of Tesla sank 3.6%, dragging the market lower despite 
strong-than-expected quarterly results as investors focused on a big jump in 
capital expenditures as the company pivots towards artificial intelligence and 
robotics.

   Paramount Skydance lost 4.5%, following approval by Warner Bros. Discovery's 
shareholders of its merger with Paramount. Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery 
fell 1.6%.

   In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.74 Japanese yen 
from 159.71 yen. The euro was trading at $1.1687, down from $1.1683.