AlHijjah 17, 1434, Oct 22, 2013, SPA -- World stock markets wavered Tuesday as investors battened down for U.S. earnings and the September employment report, according to AP. Benchmarks in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan fell while Japan and Australia posted modest gains. European stock markets mostly floundered and Wall Street futures were flat. Markets are absorbing quarterly U.S. earnings, with about 30 percent of S&P 500 companies releasing results this week, and also awaiting the September jobs report which was delayed more than two weeks. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.1 percent to 6,662.06. France's CAC 40 lost 0.1 percent to 4,271.63 and Germany's DAX shed 0.1 percent to 8,857.19. Dow and S&P 500 futures were little changed. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 0.1 percent at 14,713.25 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 5,373.10. Seoul's Kospi gained 0.2 percent to 2,056.12. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.5 percent to 23,315.99 and China's Shanghai Composite Index was off 0.8 percent at 2,210.65.
