Manila (Philippines), Jul 25 (AP) World shares retreated on Friday after Wall Street inched to more records as gains for Alphabet and artificial-intelligence stocks helped offset a steep tumble for EV-maker Tesla.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX shed 0.6 per cent to 24,152.20, while Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.4 per cent to 9,101.41. In Paris, the CAC 40 slipped 0.3 per cent to 7,793.33.

The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were both up 0.1 per cent.

In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 per cent to 41,456.23 after two days of gains following President Donald Trump's announcement of a trade deal that would place a 15 per cent tax on imports from Japan. That's lower than the 25 per cent rate that Trump had earlier said would kick in on August 1.

Data released on Friday showed the inflation rate in Japan's capital, Tokyo, rose 2.9 per cent year-on-year in July, down from 3.1 per cent in June. Japanese government efforts to moderate inflation are working, though underlying Tokyo price pressures remain elevated, ING Economics said in a commentary. It expects the Bank of Japan to hold interest rates steady at its July 30-31 meeting, but said the central bank would likely raise its forecast for inflation.

In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.1 per cent to 25,388.35 and the Shanghai Composite index slid 0.3 per cent to 3,593.66.

Next week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he will meet with Chinese officials in Stockholm, Sweden, to work toward a trade deal with Beijing ahead of an August 12 deadline. Trump has said a China trip “is not too distant” as trade tensions ease.

“One big question for markets is whether the tariff ceasefire is extended. We expect that an agreement will be attainable, but, in the interim, markets will watch closely to see if there are adjustments to current tariff rates in either direction,” ING Economics said.

In South Korea, the Kospi picked up 0.2 per cent to 3,196.05, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.5 per cent to 8,666.90.

Taiwan's Taiex edged less than 0.1 per cent lower, and in India, the Sensex fell 0.9 per cent.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to its all-time high set the day before, closing at 6,363.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7 per cent to 44,693.91, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2 per cent to a record 21,057.96.

Alphabet climbed 1 per cent after the company behind Google and YouTube delivered a fatter profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It's leaning more into artificial-intelligence technology and said it's increasing its budget for AI chips and other investments this year by USD 10 billion to USD 85 billion.

That helped push up other stocks in the AI industry, including a 1.7 per cent rise for Nvidia. The chip company was the strongest single force lifting the S&P 500 because it's the largest on Wall Street in terms of value.

But an 8.2 per cent drop for Tesla kept the market in check. Elon Musk's electric-vehicle company reported results for the spring that were roughly in line with or above analysts' expectations, and Musk is trying to highlight Tesla's moves into AI and robotaxis.

The focus, though, remains on how Musk's foray into politics is turning off potential customers, and he said several rough quarters may be ahead as “we're in this weird transition period where we'll lose a lot of incentives in the US”.

Stocks have broadly been rallying for weeks on hopes that President Donald Trump will reach trade deals with other countries that will lower his stiff proposed tariffs, along with the risk that they could cause a recession and drive up inflation.

In other dealings on Friday, US benchmark crude oil added 21 cents to USD 66.24 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 18 cents to USD 68.54 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 147.88 Japanese yen from 147.00 yen. The euro fell to USD 1.1736 from USD 1.1750. (AP) SKS GRS GRS

Tariff adjustment: uncertainty over import tax changes and trade negotiations heightens market and regulatory risk. Markets reacted to shifting trade policy signals, notably a reported reduction in a proposed import tax on Japan and ongoing negotiations toward a China trade deal, with uncertainty over extension or adjustment of a tariff ceasefire driving investor risk assessments. Concurrently, Tokyo inflation remained elevated though moderated, leading to expectations of steady central bank rates alongside higher inflation forecasts. These trade and monetary developments, together with major corporate investment moves in artificial intelligence and pronounced sectoral share swings, were the primary drivers of short-term market volatility.