World Shares Mixed as Yen Jumps        08/03 04:49

   World shares were mixed Monday after the U.S. and Japan confirmed they had 
acted to prop up the value of the Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar.

   BANGKOK (AP) -- World shares were mixed Monday after the U.S. and Japan 
confirmed they had acted to prop up the value of the Japanese yen against the 
U.S. dollar.

   Oil prices fell sharply, meanwhile, after U.S. President Donald Trump said 
he would order U.S. forces to refrain from attacks against Iran, claiming a 
deal to end the fighting in the Middle East was close. Just a day earlier, the 
president had said he was "losing faith" in the negotiations with Iran, warning 
that the U.S. military "will be hitting them very hard."

   The dollar dipped to near 155.20 yen after Trump and Japanese officials 
confirmed they had intervened last week to curb the U.S. currency's rise to 
40-year highs against the yen. Last week it was trading near 164 yen.

   By late Monday in Tokyo, a dollar bought 156.68 yen.

   A weak yen helps to boost the profits of Japanese companies with big 
operations overseas, increasing their value in yen terms. It also has drawn 
millions of foreign tourists who have enjoyed their strong purchasing power in 
Japan.

   But a cheap currency also weakens Japan's purchasing power overall, pushing 
up costs for the imports of oil and other essential goods.

   The dollar's value has surged as it serves as a safe haven for investors in 
times of uncertainty, such as during war. Trump lauded the dollar's strength in 
comments to reporters, but a weaker dollar can help make U.S. exports more 
competitive.

   The U.S. Treasury bought yen through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 
analysts said, to help boost its value.

   It's a strong signal, said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.

   "Washington is no longer merely giving Tokyo permission to defend the yen. 
It is prepared to stand on the same side of the trade," he said in a commentary.

   The euro fell to $1.1527 from $1.1549.

   In European markets, Germany's DAX gained 1.3% to 25,963.51, while the CAC 
40 in Paris climbed 1% to 8,596.56. Britain's FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged, at 
10,861.95.

   The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.5% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average rose 0.6%.

   In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.9% to 63,754.90, while the 
Kospi in South Korea dropped 5.1% to 6,257.45.

   The Kospi soared 17.9% on Friday for its best day in history after losing 
even more of its value earlier in the week. The index is dominated by two tech 
giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, both of whose shares gained more than 
25% on Friday. Shares in both companies fell 8.8% on Monday.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng index picked up 0.5% to 26,009.40 and the Shanghai 
Composite index lost 0.6% to 3,809.66.

   In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 8,996.90.

   Taiwan's Taiex gained 0.6%, while the Sensex in India advanced 0.8%.

   The lull in fighting in the Middle East helped pull Brent crude, the 
international standard, 4.7% lower to $83.92 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude 
lost 5.6% to $79.89 per barrel.

   On Friday, U.S. stocks rose to finish a wild July for Wall Street.

   The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and the Dow industrials added 0.5%. The Nasdaq 
composite rallied 1%.

   Markets have lurched up and down as oil prices shot higher because of the 
war with Iran. Growing worries over whether Big Tech's massive investments in 
artificial-intelligence technology will translate into profits and whether 
chipmaker stocks have soared too high in the euphoria around AI have also 
buffeted share prices.

   Friday's gains sent the S&P 500 to its first winning week in three.

   Amazon led the market with a leap of 15.3% after reporting much stronger 
profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its profit more than 
tripled from a year earlier, thanks in part to an acceleration of growth in its 
cloud computing business.