European, Asian Shares Lower, US Gains 01/16 04:46

   Shares slipped in Europe after a mixed session Friday in Asia, while U.S. 
futures edged higher.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- Shares slipped in Europe after a mixed session Friday in 
Asia, while U.S. futures edged higher.

   Oil prices rebounded after dropping sharply on Thursday.

   Germany's DAX edged 0.1% lower to 25,323.98, while the CAC 40 in Paris gave 
up 0.4% to 8,277.40. Britain's FTSE 100 inched up 0.1% to 10,250.97.

   The future for the S&P 500 added 0.3% while that for the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average was up 0.1%.

   Gains in Asia were led by Taiwan, where the benchmark rose nearly 2% after 
its government signed a trade deal with the U.S. China, which claims the 
self-governed island as its own territory, protested the agreement.

   The agreement cuts tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15% in exchange for $250 
billion in new investments in the U.S. tech industry.

   In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.3% to 53,936.17, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng 
gave up 0.3% to 26,844.96. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3% to 4,101.91.

   China is due to report its economic growth data for 2025 on Monday. 
Forecasts are for the economy to have expanded at about a 4.5% annual pace, 
slowing from earlier in the year.

   Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea's Kospi rose 0.9% to a record 4,840.74. The 
benchmark has been trading at record highs for weeks, helped by a recovery in 
confidence in AI-related shares. Samsung Electronics gained 3.5%.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 8,903.90. India's Sensex rose 
0.2%.

   Wall Street steadied on Thursday as stocks related to 
artificial-intelligence bounced back.

   The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%. The 
Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%.

   Easing oil prices also helped to calm investors' jitters.

   Early Friday, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude cost $59.61, up 53 cents from 
a day earlier. It sank 4.6% on Thursday after Trump said he had heard "on good 
authority" that plans for executions in Iran had stopped amid widespread 
protests against the country's leadership.

   Brent crude, the international standard, added 60 cents to $64.36 per 
barrel. It dropped 4.1% on Thursday.

   Financial markets took Trump's comments about Iran as a signal that tensions 
flaring above some of the world's largest oil deposits could ease, which in 
turn could lower the possibility of disruptions to oil supplies.

   Earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies are picking up pace, 
meanwhile, with several more big financial companies delivering their results 
for the last three months of 2025.

   "As we dive into the heart of earnings season in the coming weeks, tech 
results will be scrutinized in far greater detail.," Ipek Ozkardeskaya of 
Swissquote said in a commentary.

   "Concerns around circular AI deals, leverage and delayed returns on 
investment remain front of mind for investors. These are compounded by rising 
electricity and metals costs, higher memory-chip prices, and the risk of supply 
disruptions," she said.

   In other dealings early Friday, the U.S. dollar fell to 158.19 Japanese yen 
from 158.63 yen.

   The euro rose to $1.1614 from $1.1609.