Global stocks mixed amid Wall Street profit taking, European rally, China moves

By Laila Kearney

New York (Reuters) - Global stocks were mixed on Tuesday as Wall Street investors locked in recent gains while European shares approached four-month peaks as pressure eased on Italy's debt markets and as China moved to further open up its economy.

Washington neared an agreement to lift its ban on U.S. firms supplying to Chinese telecoms gear maker ZTE Corp, sources said, while Beijing said it would steeply cut import tariffs for automobiles and car parts.

That boosted auto stocks, with Ford, General Motors, and U.S.-listed shares of Fiat up between 1 percent and 2.4 percent. [.N]

Europe's big carmakers Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler jumped 1 to 1.6 percent too.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.25 points, or 0.04 percent, to 25,004.04, the S&P 500 gained 6.02 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,739.03 and the Nasdaq Composite added 13.49 points, or 0.18 percent, to 7,407.52.lost 0.18

"The market is taking very well to what appears to be the fact that (President Donald) Trump is able to maneuver the trade talks in our favor," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Jersey-based Janlyn Capital LLC, of the mostly upbeat tone. "We're seeing a continuation of that positive momentum."

Early European trading saw Italian government bond yields come off 14-month highs, after six days of heavy selling on concerns over high-spending policies mooted by a potential new ruling coalition.

The proposed tie-up of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League has pushed Rome's 10-year yields up nearly 70 basis points since the start of the month.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.36 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.46 percent.

Oil jumped to $80 a barrel, its highest since late 2014, on expectations Venezuelan crude output and a possible reduction in Iranian exports could further curb global supply.

U.S. crude rose 0.64 percent to $72.70 per barrel and Brent was last at $80.25, up 1.3 percent.

After six days of gains, the U.S. dollar retreated as Treasury yields dipped and investors sought incentives to buy after a 7 percent rally since mid-February.

The dollar index, tracking it against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.1 percent at 93.584. It was on track for its largest daily loss in two weeks.

Gold steadied as the dollar lost momentum, but risk appetite in the broader financial market cooled the metal's gains.

(Reporting by Marc Jones, Alex Lawler, Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Maytaal Angel and Medha Singh; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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