World shares are mixed as strong corporate earnings are offset by tariff worries

By ELAINE KURTENBACH Associated Press Business Writer World shares were mixed on Wednesday as strong corporate profits were offset by uncertainty over President Donald Trump s contract war The Eurozone logged enhancement in the first quarter of the year stronger than in the last quarter of But the outlook has been dimmed by higher tariffs on exports from the -nation region using the euro Germany s DAX gained to after the country s center-left Social Democrats voted to approve a coalition agreement The vote s results communicated Wednesday pave the way to elect Friedrich Merz as the new German chancellor In Paris the CAC also rose to while Britain s FTSE was little changed at The future for the S P edged lower while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up In Asian trading Tokyo s Nikkei index climbed to Japanese automakers shares were mixed even after Trump signed an order relaxing chosen U S tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts Shares in Toyota Motor Corp lost while Honda Motor Co gained Nissan Motor Co lost In Hong Kong the Hang Seng rose to while the Shanghai Composite index slipped to as surveys established export orders to Chinese manufacturers declined in April as higher U S tariffs on goods from China began to take effect South Korea s Kospi dropped to while the S P ASX in Australia surged to On Tuesday the S P climbed and the Dow industrials added The Nasdaq composite rose CEOs say they re unsure how long their companies can keep piling up profits due to the lack of clarity about Donald Trump s contract war Honeywell International helped lead the field with a gain of after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected It also raised its forecast for profit over the full year Sherwin-Williams rose for another one of the realm s bigger gains after the paint and coatings company likewise informed a better-than-expected profit UPS stock swung between losses and gains at the day s start of trading after it shared a stronger profit than analysts expected for the first three months of Because it s the world s largest package delivery company UPS can offer a window into how the global economic system is doing But UPS also disclosed it wasn t updating its financial forecasts previously given for because of the current macro-economic uncertainty It also mentioned it expects to cut about jobs and close buildings this year Its stock finished lower Investors fear Trump s tariffs could bring a recession if left unaltered because they could freeze global contract and send prices higher for all kinds of products U S households are getting much more pessimistic because of tariffs and a analysis from the Conference Board on Tuesday announced their expectations for income business and job field conditions dropped to the lowest level since and are well below the level that usually signals a recession ahead General Motors slipped despite reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected The company rescheduled a conference call with investors to discuss its results and forecasts for to Thursday because of current reports regarding updates to deal guidelines Coca-Cola also overcame an early drop to rise The beverage giant published better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter and disclosed the impact of tariffs on its business are likely to be manageable Treasury yields fell The yield on the -year Treasury dropped to from late Monday In other dealings early Wednesday U S benchmark crude oil lost cents to per barrel Brent crude the international standard shed cents to per barrel The U S dollar rose to Japanese yen from yen The euro fell to from