Stocks struggle despite another Wall St record

Europe's stock markets churned lower Tuesday in the absence of major economic data, as investors sat on their hands before US inflation numbers due later this week.

Asian indices wobbled as traders shrugged off news of yet another record close on Wall Street overnight.

And Wall Street opened lower after the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a ninth straight all-time high Monday, as strong second-quarter earnings injected more enthusiasm into US equities.

The Dow slid 0.1 percent from and broader S&P 500 also gave up 0.2 percent from its record close in the first few minutes of trading.

"US stocks are lower in early action, following a decline in Asia and some pressure in Europe on the heels of disappointing trade data out of China and Germany," said analysts at US brokerage Charles Schwab.

Chinese trade growth in July came in well below expectations after months of steady momentum, while German exports dipped in June.

"European stock markets are trading sideways ... as there are not any major macro-economic stories that dealers can get inspiration from," said CMC Markets UK analyst David Madden.

"Equity markets have been by-and-large lacking volatility recently, and the indices in Europe are tame in comparison with US stock markets."

London's commodities-heavy FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip firms stocks meanwhile dipped on the poor trade data from China, which is a top global consumer of many raw materials.

Chinese exports rose 7.2 percent year-on-year in June, undershooting a Bloomberg News forecast of 11 percent, while imports climbed by 11 percent compared with an expected increase of 18 percent.

"The cooling of imports prompted dealers to dump basic resource stocks as the country has lost a bit of its appetite for minerals," he added.

"Anglo American, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Glencore are in the red ... on the back of the Chinese trade figures which showed that both imports and exports came in below expectations," said Madden.

Some Asian bourses paused for breath in light summer holiday trading, after recording healthy gains Monday on optimism over global growth triggered by last week's strong US jobs report.

In Tokyo a stronger yen, which weighs on exporters' profits, helped nose Japanese equities down as the greenback gave up some ground.

The Nikkei closed down 0.3 percent, also dragged down by tech giant SoftBank slipping into negative territory as it announced a dive in April-June net profit.

But Hong Kong continued a month-long advance as traders prepared for more earnings from heavyweights including China Mobile.

Shanghai stocks were little changed despite the disappointing Chinese trade data.

Traders are now turning their focus to US inflation data out Friday for clues on monetary policy in the world's top economy.

- Key figures around 1330 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,525.9 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.5 percent at 12,198.3

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 5,195.3

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,495.95

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 22,087.5

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 19,996.01 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.6 percent at 27,854.91 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP less than 0.1 percent at 3,281.87 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1813 from $1.1794 at 2100 GMT on Monday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3008 from $1.3036

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 110.35 yen from 110.74 yen

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 34 cents at $52.03 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 39 cents at $49.00

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Source: AFP