Sawt Falasteen - Global stocks mixed as US and Russia hold talks

The talks, which excluded Europe and Ukraine, have led to uncertainty in markets as traders mull the prospect of higher European defence spending.

"European markets are drifting lower in early trade, as markets start to show a degree of hesitancy for the outcome of today’s peace talks between the US and Russia," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Defence stocks soared the previous day as European leaders held an informal summit to discuss Ukraine and signalled more financial and military support ahead.

"There is still a very good chance that defense budgets will rise in Europe in the coming years, however, for the European defense trade to take another leg higher, we may need to see significant progress in today’s talks," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.

London's FTSE 100 rose following data that showed UK wage growth accelerated and the employment rate was steady.

Paris was flat and Frankfurt dipped from Monday's record gains.

Over in Asia, Hong Kong's stock market soared Tuesday, thanks to a recovery in Chinese tech stocks.

That came after a meeting between President Xi Jinping and China's top business leaders fanned hopes that a long-running crackdown on the private sector is coming to an end.

Since taking the helm, Xi has strengthened the role of state enterprises in the world's second-largest economy and waged crackdowns on some areas of the private sector.

The drive has hammered some of the country's biggest names in recent years, sending their share prices plummeting.

Monday's gathering provided some much-needed relief to investors and boosted hopes for a sector revival.

"This was seen as a strong signal that his crackdown on the tech sector is over and with forthcoming pro-business policies to help revive the economy," said National Australia Bank head of market economics Tapas Strickland.

Chinese tech and e-commerce giant Alibaba rose more than two percent. Games developer XD Inc surged more than 10 percent, while Tencent added two percent.

Shanghai's stock market fared less well, while Tokyo gained.

Sydney fell as the Reserve Bank of Australia announced its first interest rate cut since late 2020 but warned global uncertainties would make it hard for officials to follow up with any more anytime soon.

Wall Street was closed for a holiday on Monday.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,780.68 points

Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 8,188.24

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 22,770.80

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 39,270.40 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.6 percent at 22,976.81 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.9 percent at 3,324.49 (close)

New York - Dow: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0462 from $1.0483 on Monday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2601 from $1.2613

Dollar/yen: UP at 151.80 from 151.41 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.02 pence from 83.11 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $71.85 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $75.82 per barrel

J.AbuHassan--SF-PST