World Stocks Mixed Ahead of Jobs Report12/06 04:49

   Global stocks were mixed Friday after Wall Street retreated from record 
highs as investors awaited a U.S. jobs report due later in the day.

   HONG KONG (AP) -- Global stocks were mixed Friday after Wall Street 
retreated from record highs as investors awaited a U.S. jobs report due later 
in the day.

   France's CAC 40 added 0.4% in early trading to 7,357.30 after French 
President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday local time that he plans to stay 
in office until the end of his term and to name a new prime minister within 
days.

   This comes after far-right and left-wing lawmakers approved a no-confidence 
motion due to budget disputes, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his 
Cabinet to resign.

   Germany's DAX was little changed at 20,357.73, and Britain's FTSE 100 edged 
down 0.1% to 8,344.48.

   The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were 
virtually unchanged.

   This week's highlight for markets will be Friday's jobs report from the U.S. 
government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last 
month. A report on Thursday said the number of U.S. workers applying for 
unemployment benefits rose last week but remains at historically healthy levels.

   In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.8% to 39,091.17. 
The U.S. dollar rose to 150.35 Japanese yen from 150.10 yen.

   Chinese stocks rallied. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.6% to 19,865.85 
and the Shanghai Composite index surged 1.1% to 3,404.08. Markets are watching 
for the outcome of an annual economic policy meeting scheduled for next week.

   Analysts said policymakers might lean toward caution as they brace for 
President-elect Donald Trump's moves on tariffs and trade.

   South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.6% to 2,428.16. On Friday, South Korea's 
ruling party chief showed support for suspending the constitutional powers of 
President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law and then revoked that 
earlier this week. Yoon is facing calls to resign and be investigated and may 
be impeached.

   Thousands of protesters have marched in the streets and thousands of 
autoworkers and other members of the Korean Metal Workers' Union, one of the 
country's biggest umbrella labor groups, began partial strikes Thursday to 
protest against Yoon. The union said its members will begin indefinite strikes 
starting on Wednesday if Yoon does not leave office by then.

   Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6% to 8,420.90.

   Bitcoin briefly burst above $103,000 on Thursday before pulling back after 
exceeding $100,000 for the first time following President-elect Donald Trump's 
nomination of financier Paul Atkins, who's seen as a crypto advocate, to head 
the Securities and Exchange Commission.

   Bitcoin was trading at 98,670.46 early Friday, according to CoinDesk.

   On Thursday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, but it's still set to close out one 
of its best years of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% 
and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2% from its own record set the day before.

   Solid consumer spending has helped the U.S. economy avoid a recession that 
had seemed inevitable after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to crush 
inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing 
job market.

   Expectations are high that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again 
when it meets before Christmas. The Fed began easing its main interest rate 
from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job 
market.

   Also Thursday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.17% from 
4.18% late Wednesday.

   In other dealings Friday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 22 cents to $68.08 a 
barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, was unchanged at $72.09 a 
barrel.

   The euro inched down to $1.0577 from $1.0589.