Manila, Aug 21 (AP) European shares were lower Thursday after a mixed trading session in Asia, as investors awaited fresh signals from the Federal Reserve about US interest rates.

Fed chair Jerome Powell was due to speak on Friday at an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX fell 0.2 per cent to 24,236.16. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 0.2 per cent to 9,269.31, while the CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.5 per cent to 7,931.26.

The future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1 per cent lower, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.3 per cent.

The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, concerned that President Donald Trump's tariff hikes could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the US may be superseding that.

Still, minutes from the Fed's July 29-30 meeting released Wednesday showed most Fed officials felt the threat of higher inflation was a greater concern than the potential for job losses, leading the central bank to keep its key rate unchanged.

In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6 per cent to 42,610.17 after a survey showed Japan's factory activity remained in contraction for the second month in August. The S&P Global flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 49.9 in August from 48.9 in July, just below the 50 level marking the cutoff between growth and decline.

Regional manufacturers have been feeling pressure from Trump's higher tariffs on exports to the United States.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.2 per cent lower to 25,104.61, while the Shanghai composite index rose 0.1 per cent to 3,771.10.

“Asian markets walked into Thursday like a card room still heavy with last night's smoke — muted, watchful, waiting for the next cue out of Jackson Hole,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

The exception was Australia, where the S&P/ASX 200 index added 1.1 per cent to 9,019.10, surpassing the 9,000 level for the first time in a rally driven by strong economic data and corporate earnings.

In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.4 per cent to 3,141.74 after shedding some of its morning gains.

Taiwan's TAIEX climbed 1.4 per cent, while India's Sensex added 0.3 per cent.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 per cent after trimming a 1.1 per cent loss earlier in the day. It is still near its all-time high set last week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.7 per cent.

The day's action centred again around stocks caught up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology.

Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world's move into AI, sank as much as 3.9 per cent during the morning and was on track to be the heaviest weight on Wall Street following its 3.5 per cent fall on Tuesday.

But it clawed back nearly all of Wednesday's drop and finished with a dip of just 0.1 per cent. As it pared its loss, so did broad market indexes because Nvidia is Wall Street's most influential stock by being its most valuable.

Palantir Technologies, another AI darling, fell 1.1 per cent to add to its 9.4 per cent loss from the day before, but it had been down as much as 9.8 per cent on Wednesday morning.

In other dealings on Thursday, US benchmark crude gained 66 cents to USD 63.37 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 65 cents to USD 67.49 per barrel.

The US dollar rose to 147.74 Japanese yen, from 147.29 yen. The euro edged slightly higher to USD 1.1654 from USD 1.1651. (AP) SKS NPK NPK