World Shares Mostly Higher on Fed News 09/18 05:03

   World shares mostly advanced on Thursday after Wall Street indexes churned 
between gains and losses but ultimately remained near their record levels 
following the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its main interest rate.

   MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- World shares mostly advanced on Thursday after 
Wall Street indexes churned between gains and losses but ultimately remained 
near their record levels following the Federal Reserve's decision to cut its 
main interest rate.

   The future for S&P 500 rose 0.9% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average added 0.7%.

   In early European trading, Germany's DAX climbed 1.4% to 23,679.38 while 
France's CAC 40 rose nearly 1.3% to 7,885.28. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 
9,239.03 in cautious trading ahead of a Bank of England interest rate decision 
later in the day.

   Asian shares were mixed, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing nearly 1.2% to 
45,303.43 as the Bank of Japan started its two-day policy meeting, with rates 
expected to be left unchanged.

   South Korea's Kospi added 1.4% to 3,461.30, with chipmakers SK Hynix and 
Samsung Electronics among advancers.

   The Chinese markets were down. Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped nearly 1.4% to 
26,544.85, while the Shanghai Composite index trimmed earlier gains, losing 
over 1.1% to 3,831.66.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.8% to 8,745.20 with data released Thursday 
showing the jobless rate was unchanged at 4.2% in August, but headline 
employment fell by 5,400 while full-time jobs declined by 40,900.

   India's BSE Sensex was up 0.1%, while Taiwan's Taiex added 1.3%.

   On Wednesday on Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1% and hung near its 
all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
rose 260 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.3%.

   The swings came after the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate for the 
first time this year. That move was no surprise for Wall Street, which was 
widely expecting it. More important was the set of projections that Fed 
officials published showing where they expect interest rates to go in upcoming 
years.

   That indicated the typical member sees the Fed cutting the federal funds 
rate two more times by the end of this year and once more in 2026.

   Stocks initially rose following the release of the projections, which seemed 
to support Wall Street's widespread expectation for more cuts to interest 
rates. Such moves can give the economy a kickstart, and stock prices had 
already run to records on the bet that several cuts are on the way.

   But stocks gave back gains after Fed Chair Jerome Powell stressed that 
they're only projections. Conditions could change quickly, and Powell warned 
against taking the projections as gospel.

   What's making things difficult for the Fed is that the job market is slowing 
as inflation is remaining stubbornly high. The Fed is in charge of fixing both, 
but it has only one tool to do that. And helping one by moving interest rates 
often hurts the other in the short term.

   The Fed had been holding rates steady this year because of the threat that 
U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs will raise prices for all kinds of 
products. Inflation has so far refused to go back below the Fed's 2% target, 
and Fed officials don't see that happening for a few years.

   In other dealings Thursday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 26 cents to $63.79 per 
barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, shed 29 cents to $67.17 per 
barrel.

   The U.S. dollar rose to 147.18 Japanese yen from 146.89 yen. The euro edged 
higher to $1.1847 from $1.1818. ___

   AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.