Sawt Falasteen - Global stocks diverge on renewed US inflation fears

The latest readings added to worries about a fresh uptick to US inflation, already on traders' radar owing to Donald Trump's pledges to slash taxes, regulations and immigration when he returns to the White House this month.

"A mixture of macro fears for inflation and concerns about what the next Trump presidency may hold are dominating markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading group XTB.

Asian stock markets closed mostly down Wednesday while the bulk of European indices gained nearing the half-way stage.

All three main indices on Wall Street ended in the red Tuesday, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 each shedding more than one percent.

Tech firms, which had led a surge on Monday, were again the key drivers of action, with chip titan Nvidia tanking after a disappointing product presentation.

A closely watched survey of the crucial US services sector saw a pick-up in December, with the prices component soaring far more than expected to hit the highest level since last January.

A separate report showed job openings also outstripped forecasts in November to touch a six-month high.

Tuesday's readings made the case for the Federal Reserve to slow its pace of rate cuts, having lowered them three times last year thanks to easing inflation.

Focus now turns to Friday's release of the key non-farm payrolls report, which will provide a fresh snapshot of the US economy.

The Fed has already lowered its outlook for rate cuts to two reductions this year, down from the four forecast in September.

"But speculation is brewing that this could be reduced to just one if price pressures persist," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

In Europe, German industrial orders fell more than five percent in November, official data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign of headwinds facing the continent's largest economy.

On the corporate front, shares in British energy giant Shell slid 1.5 percent on a weak trading update ahead of its full year results, capping gains on London's benchmark FTSE 100 index.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,255.87 points

Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 7,488.89

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.6 percent at 20,452.31

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 39,981.06 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.9 percent at 19,279.84 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,230.17 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 42,528.36 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0319 from $1.0342 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2445 from $1.2479

Dollar/yen: UP at 158.32 yen from 157.98 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 82.92 pence from 82.87 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $77.26 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $74.66 per barrel

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST