Sawt Falasteen - Stock markets waver after US election rally, rate cut

The Dow and S&P 500 were up in morning deals but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was flat following fresh records the previous days after the Fed trimmed US borrowing costs by 25 basis points.

The dollar gained against other major currencies.

But Europe's main stock markets were in the red in afternoon deals, with Frankfurt also digesting the collapse of the German government coalition and Paris hit by falling luxury shares.

There is unease that US president-elect Donald Trump's planned tax cuts and import tariffs will rekindle inflation in the United States and beyond, which could in turn see the Federal Reserve scale back on interest-rate cuts.

"(Fed) news which ordinarily would have drawn a lot of the market's focus has been pushed down the agenda as attention is turned to the implications of Donald Trump's return to the White House," noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell trading group.

Chinese stocks ended lower ahead of fresh announcements aimed at stimulating China's struggling economy.

China unveiled some of its most ambitious plans in years to lift local government debt following a meeting of lawmakers eyeing the possibility of intensified trade tensions with Trump.

Chinese media said officials in Beijing would raise the debt ceiling for local governments by $840 billion.

"The market reaction shows that traders do not see these measures as boosting consumption, and instead they are designed to stop a financial crisis domestically in China," concluded Kathleen Brooks, research director at traders XTB.

China broadcaster CCTV described the move as the country's "most powerful debt reduction measure in recent years", adding it would free "up space for local governments to better develop the economy and protect people's livelihood".

It came amid uncertainty about the outlook for China after the election of Trump, who warned during his campaign that he would hit imports from the country with huge tariffs of up to 60 percent.

"On balance, it is likely that Trump's electoral victory presents additional downward pressure to China's growth in the next few years (depending on various policy responses in both the US and China)," said National Australia Bank's Gerard Burg.

China's economic slowdown has hit sales at luxury companies, with Cartier owner Richemont posting a big drop in profit on Friday.

Its shares fell more than five percent on the Swiss stock exchange while Gucci owner Kering and LVMH, the world's biggest luxury company, were also in the red in Paris.

- Key figures around 1545 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 43.854.02 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,986.05

New York - Nasdaq: FLAT at 19,276.04

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 8,078.56

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 7,341.68

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.9 percent at 19,190.89

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,500.37 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 20,728.19 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,452.30 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0753 from $1.0801 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2937 from $1.2985

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.71 yen from 152.92 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 83.11 pence from 83.18 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 percent at $71.01 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.6 percent at $74.46 per barrel

N.Shalabi--SF-PST