World Shares Mixed Wednesday           07/15 04:48

   World shares were mixed on Wednesday and oil prices climbed after Iran 
threatened to block Middle East energy exports now that the U.S. has resumed 
its blockade of Iranian ports.

   TOKYO (AP) -- World shares were mixed on Wednesday and oil prices climbed 
after Iran threatened to block Middle East energy exports now that the U.S. has 
resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.

   Stock price gains overall were moderate given worries that the United States 
and Iran may return to an all-out war. Renewed attacks in the Middle East have 
raised the risks of further disruptions of transport of oil and gas through the 
Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil prices higher.

   Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all 
energy exports from the Middle East over the U.S. blockade. U.S. President 
Donald Trump announced Monday that the blockade was resumed as an interim 
agreement on ending the war unraveled.

   "The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or 
for no one," said the statement by the Iranian side.

   Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.6% to $85.23 a barrel, while 
benchmark U.S. crude gained 0.7% to $79.89 a barrel.

   "The U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding signed last month has proved to 
be anything but. The two sides are once again exchanging military strikes, and 
they hold completely different views on the state of affairs in the Strait of 
Hormuz," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

   "With shipping around the Gulf becoming increasingly fraught with danger, 
traffic flows are declining once more," he said.

   In early European trading, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% to 8,371.11, while the 
German DAX shed 0.5% to 25,014.37. Britain's FTSE 100 declined 0.2% to 
10,513.40.

   South Korea's Kospi led gains in Asia, surging 6.2% to 7,284.41 as prices 
rebounded from a recent sell-off in semiconductor stocks. Shares in computer 
chipmaker SK Hynix rose 8.8%, while those of Samsung Electronics surged 6.3%.

   Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.5% to finish at 68,751.51.

   Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,841.10.

   Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 1.4% to 24,681.10, while the Shanghai 
Composite lost 0.3% to 3,955.58 after the Chinese government reported the 
economy expanded at a 4.3% annualized pace in April-June, slowing sharply from 
5% in the first quarter of the year.

   On Tuesday, U.S. stocks rallied following a report that showed U.S. 
inflation was not as bad last month as economists expected. It said U.S. 
consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, food and other costs of living that 
were 3.5% higher last month than a year earlier.

   The S&P 500 added 0.4% to recover some of its 0.8% loss from the day before. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1% and the Nasdaq composite 
climbed 0.9%.

   Investors are watching for earnings reports this week from various global 
companies.

   In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 162.32 Japanese yen from 
162.26 yen. The euro cost $1.1421, down from $1.1423.