World Stocks Advance          11/12 06:30

   World shares were mostly higher Tuesday after the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average notched another record high.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mostly higher Tuesday after the Dow Jones 
Industrial Average notched another record high.

   Investors are awaiting fresh news on progress in negotiations on the trade 
dispute between Beijing and Washington. That could come later in the day, when 
President Donald Trump is scheduled to give a speech on trade and economic 
policy at the Economic Club of New York.

   London's FTSE 100 picked up 0.3% to 7,352.20, while the CAC 40 in Paris also 
rose 0.3% to 5,909.90. Germany's DAX advanced 0.5% to 13,257.54. Wall Street 
looked set for gains, with the futures for the Dow and the S&P 500 both up 0.1%.

   Markets were rattled Monday after Donald Trump cast doubts over a Chinese 
official's comments on gradually rolling back tariffs as negotiations progress.

   Both sides agreed last month to hold off on further tariff increases as they 
thrash out a "Phase 1" agreement the U.S. side says is meant to settle basic 
issues before moving on to more complex disagreements.

   The status of the talks remains murky. 

   But the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a slight gain Monday anyway, 
eking out another record as it rose less than 0.1% to 27,691.49.

   In Asia, Hong Kong shares bounced back from a sell-off the day before, 
though protesters again disrupted the morning commute on Tuesday. The benchmark 
Hang Seng index added 0.4% to 27,040.21.

   The semi-autonomous Chinese city has been wracked by anti-government 
protests for more than five months.

   Tensions escalated Monday as violence grew more extreme when a police 
officer drew his gun during a struggle with protesters, shooting one in the 
abdomen. In another neighborhood, a person was set on fire after an apparent 
argument. The Hong Kong hospital authority said both were in critical 
condition. Video of another incident showed a policeman on a motorcycle riding 
through a group of protesters in an apparent attempt to disperse them.

   In comments suggesting harsher legal and police measures may be planned, 
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam pledged to "spare no effort" to halt the protests.

   Elsewhere in Asia on Tuesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8% to 
23,520.01, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2,140.92 and the Shanghai 
Composite index picked up 0.2% to 2,914.82. Australia's S&P ASX/200 shed 0.3% 
to 6,753.00. Shares rose in Taiwan and most of Southeast Asia.

   Looking ahead, on Wednesday the Federal Reserve's chairman, Jerome Powell, 
is due to give testimony to Congress about the U.S. economy. Most investors 
expect the Fed to keep interest rates on hold for now after cutting them three 
times since the summer.

   Later this week, the Labor Department will also give updates on inflation at 
both the consumer and wholesale levels. On Friday, economists expect a 
government report to show that retail sales returned to growth in October. That 
would suggest robust consumer spending is helping to compensate for weaker 
manufacturing due to the trade war.

   Earnings season is close to complete, and nearly 90% of the companies in the 
S&P 500 have reported their profits for the July-through-September quarter, 
according to FactSet. Results have been weak due in part to the slowing global 
economy, with earnings per share down 2.4% from a year earlier, not as bad as 
analysts had forecast.

   Benchmark crude oil rose 32 cents to $57.18 per barrel in electronic trading 
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 38 cents to settle at $56.86 a 
barrel on Monday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, added 43 cents 
to $62.61. It fell 33 cents to $62.18 a barrel in London.

   The dollar rose to 109.20 Japanese yen from 109.06 yen on Monday. The euro 
slipped to $1.1023 from $1.1034. 


(AG)