World shares are mostly lower ahead of a US inflation update

Key Points

• Asian shares displayed mixed results as investors await a crucial U.S. inflation report following Wall Street's recent all-time highs fueled by technology stock gains.
• Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.2% amid disappointing factory output data, while inflation slowed to 2.6% year-on-year, suggesting mixed economic signals ahead.
• The U.S. Labor Department reported a decline in unemployment benefit applications, indicating employers are retaining workers even as economic growth shows signs of slowing.
• The personal consumption expenditures index update is anticipated to reveal inflation remained steady at around 2.6% in July, signaling ongoing concerns around higher costs due to tariffs.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — European shares were trading lower on Friday following a mixed session in Asia as investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report.

Economists expect the U.S. personal consumption expenditures index, due later in the day, to show inflation remained at about 2.6% in July.

The futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%. Oil prices were also lower.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX shed 0.6% to 23,901.77 as the latest figures showed unemployment remained at 6.3% in July, for a sixth straight month. Adjusted for seasonal factors, it topped 3 million for the first time in a decade.

Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 9,191.08 while the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.7% to 7,712.11.

During Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.3% to 42,718.47 after a slew of data released Friday showed Japan’s factory output slumped in July as higher tariffs hit on exports to the United States. Inflation in Tokyo also slowed to 2.6% year-on-year, while the jobless rate fell to 2.3% in July from 2.5% in June.

“Today’s Japanese data was mixed, with disappointing industrial production threatening third-quarter growth, while a tight labor market points to increased wages and underlying inflation remaining firm,” ING Economics said in a commentary. “We still think October is the most likely timing for a Bank of Japan rate hike.”

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.3% to 25,077.62, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4% to 3,857.93. Shares in computer chipmaker Cambricon Technologies shed 6% after soaring 15.7% on Thursday, closing at 1,492.49 yuan (about $209) a share. But it remained the priciest stock on Shanghai's exchange after displacing Kweichou Moutai, whose shares gained 2.3% to 1,480 yuan ($207.50).

Chinese computer chipmakers have seen their share prices surge as the government provides heavy support to encourage wider manufacturing and use of chips made in China.

“Hyper-growth in China’s tech landscape is starting to feel like a zero-sum cage fight rather than a clean runway. Even Cambricon’s AI chip story, this week’s darling, is now flashing red lights, warning of trading risks after an 8% skid,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

South Korea's KOSPI shed 0.3% to 3,186.01, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 8,973.10.

Taiwan's TAIEX shed earlier gains and was down less than 0.1%, while India's BSE Sensex slipped 0.1%.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.3%, lifting the benchmark index to its second record high in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reversed an early slide and gained 0.2%, enough to move past its record high set last Friday.

The Nasdaq composite closed 0.5% higher, finishing just short of its all-time high set two weeks ago.

Gains in the technology and communication services sectors offset losses elsewhere in the market.

Tech giant Nvidia fell 0.8% a day after reporting quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street analysts’ forecasts, though the company noted that sales of its artificial intelligence chipsets rose at a slower pace than analysts anticipated.

Traders also had their eye on new government reports on the job market and economy.

The Labor Department reported that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, the latest sign that employers are holding onto their workers even as the economy has slowed.

The most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported that U.S. gross domestic product —- the nation’s output of goods and services — grew at a 3.3% annual pace in the April-June quarter after shrinking 0.5% in the first three months of this year due to the fallout from the Trump administration’s trade wars.

Still, the sluggishness in the job market is a key reason that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week that the central bank may cut its key interest rate at its meeting next month.

In other dealings on Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 42 cents to $64.18 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slid 41 cents to $67.57 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 147.00 Japanese yen from 146.95 yen. The euro fell to $1.1675 from $1.1684.