Global Shares Mostly Rise Wednesday    01/14 04:48

   Global shares mostly rose Wednesday after Wall Street pulled back from its 
recent records as uncertainty was brewing in various regions, including in Iran.

   TOKYO (AP) -- Global shares mostly rose Wednesday after Wall Street pulled 
back from its recent records as uncertainty was brewing in various regions, 
including in Iran.

   France's CAC 40 added 0.5% in early trading to 8,392.24, while the German 
DAX edged up 0.1% to 25,453.63. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 10,163.11.

   The futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 futures 
fell 0.2%.

   In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 1.5% to finish at 
54,341.23 as expectations grew that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may call 
general elections soon.

   Takaichi met Tuesday with her South Korean counterpart, President Lee Jae 
Myung and they committed to working together on economic and security issues. 
South Korea's Kospi rose 0.7% to 4,723.10.

   Chinese markets rallied but then fell back. Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.6% 
to 26,999.81, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.3% to 4,126.09.

   China's trade surplus surged 20% in 2025 from a year earlier to a record 
$1.2 trillion, despite U.S. President Donald Trump's onslaught of higher 
tariffs on imports.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1% to 8,820.60, while Taiwan's Taiex jumped 
0.8%. In India, the Sensex lost 0.5%.

   President Donald Trump announced he would impose a 25% tax on imports to the 
United States from countries that do business with Iran as the death toll from 
the latest protests there exceeded 2,500 as of Wednesday, according to 
activists.

   A highly anticipated update on inflation came in close to economists' 
expectations, strengthening expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut its 
main interest rate at least twice in 2026 to shore up the job market. Later 
Wednesday, the government is due to report on inflation at the wholesale level.

   On Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell 0.2% from its all-time high a day earlier. The 
Dow dropped 0.8% from its own record, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1%.

   In other dealings early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude gave up 57 cents to 
$60.87 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 58 cents to 
$64.89 a barrel.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 158.78 yen from 159.13 
yen. The euro rose to $1.1649 from $1.1645.