Sawt Falasteen - Stock markets diverge as traders eye Fed rate signal

The tech-rich Nasdaq index led gains after the open in New York as traders await the minutes from the Fed's November policy meeting, due for release Tuesday.

In Europe, London and Frankfurt were in the red in the afternoon while Paris rose slightly.

Expectations that interest rates could eventually be cut next year continued to weigh on the dollar, with the yen jumping one percent against the greenback.

"While a wait-and-see mood has descended, confidence is still quietly bubbling that interest rate cuts could be on the horizon," noted Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"Concerns that there could be another grinch-like hike from the Fed in December have retreated and more bets are being placed that a reduction could come in the Spring."

The Fed and European Central Bank kept their rates unchanged at their last meetings, pausing their hike campaign as inflation has cooled sharply in the United States and Europe.

But inflation remains hugely elevated in some countries, including Argentina, where libertarian outsider Javier Milei swept to victory in a presidential election Sunday.

Milei won power on a promise to halt decades of economic decline in the Latin American nation that is reeling from triple-digit inflation.

The self-described "anarcho-capitalist" has proposed the dollarisation of the economy by 2025 to halt the "cancer of inflation."

Observers said they expected light trading on Wall street this week heading into the Thanksgiving holiday long weekend, with US markets closing on Thursday and finishing early on Friday.

"Travel plans and school breaks are already underway... which will lead to increasingly thinner trading conditions as the attention of market participants is understandably diverted elsewhere," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

Among companies, Microsoft's share price rose by 1.5 percent after the company hired OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman following his shock sacking from the startup, whose ChatGPT chatbot has led the rapid rise of artificial intelligence technology.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X that Altman "will be joining Microsoft to lead a new advanced AI research team," along with OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman and other colleagues.

Elsewhere Monday, oil prices edged higher, extending Friday's gains of more than four percent, before a meeting of OPEC and other key producers, where Russia and Saudi Arabia could extend output cuts.

- Key figures around 1500 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 35,010.13 points

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,490.37

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,245.50

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.2 percent at 15,888.48

EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 4,340.28

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 33,388.03 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.9 percent at 17,778.07 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,068.32 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0938 from $1.0916 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2491 from $1.2465

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 148.44 yen from 149.64 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.57 pence from 87.55 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.9 percent at $82.15 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.8 percent at $77.22 per barrel

R.Shaban--SF-PST