World Shares Mixed on Wall St. Retreat 02/04 04:52

   European shares were mixed Wednesday, while most benchmarks in Asia advanced 
despite a retreat on Wall Street on selling of technology stocks.

   HONG KONG (AP) -- European shares were mixed Wednesday, while most 
benchmarks in Asia advanced despite a retreat on Wall Street on selling of 
technology stocks.

   The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while that for the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average rose 0.1%.

   In Europe, France's CAC 40 gained 0.5% in early trading to 8,219.78, while 
Germany's DAX slipped 0.5% to 24,668.93. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6% to 
10,373.29.

   In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.8% to 54,293.36, falling back 
from a record high set Tuesday. Shares of chipmaker Tokyo Electron fell 2.1%, 
while testing equipment maker Advantest also lost 2.1%. SoftBank Group shed 
2.2%.

   Shares of Nintendo plunged 11%, even as the Japanese video-game maker posted 
strong profits on Tuesday, as investors and analysts expressed concern about 
whether sales momentum can be maintained for the Switch 2 game console that was 
rolled out last year.

   South Korea's Kospi gained 1.6% to 5,371.10. Samsung Electronics rose nearly 
1%, while chipmaker SK Hynix dropped 0.8%.

   The index has been setting records nearly daily.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged less than 0.1% higher to 26,847.32. The Shanghai 
Composite index gained 0.9% to 4,102.20.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher at 8,927.80.

   Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.3%, while India's Sensex edged up more than 0.2%.

   Gold and silver prices extended gains as investors continued to shift funds 
into safe haven assets given uncertainties over geopolitical crises and U.S. 
trade policies.

   Gold rose 3.1%, while the price of silver jumped 6.9%. They have bounced 
back after tumbling in recent days.

   "After plunging from record highs amid elevated volatility, precious metals 
attracted renewed buying interest," ING Bank analysts Warren Patterson and Ewa 
Manthey wrote in a note.

   "Safe haven demand is among factors that will remain supportive of gold 
prices over the medium term," they said.

   On Tuesday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.8% and the Dow fell 0.3%. The Nasdaq 
composite shed 1.4%.

   Nvidia, one of the world's most valuable companies, fell 2.8%. Shares of 
Microsoft fell 2.9%. Investors have been rotating in and out of 
technology-related stocks on concerns over whether their shares were being 
overvalued and if their heavy spending on artificial intelligence investments 
will pay off.

   In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 1 cent to 
$63.20 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 7 cents to 
$67.26 per barrel.

   The U.S. dollar rose to 156.58 Japanese yen from 155.77 yen. The euro was 
unchanged at $1.1818.