Stock market today: A mixed day for world shares as Wall Street steadies

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Thursday after the latest U.S. economic data calmed frazzled nerves on Wall Street.

U.S. futures edged lower, with the contract for the S&P 500 down 0.2% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average less than 0.1% lower. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday to observe a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX lost 0.2% to 20,285.80, while the CAC 40 in Paris was nearly unchanged, at 7,454.28. Britain's FTSE 100 surged 0.6% to 8,302.33.

Asian markets mostly declined as caution revived over a likely deepening of trade friction once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Shares fell in Tokyo after Japan reported strong wage growth for November, data that might help persuade its central bank to raise interest rates. The Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.9% to 39,605.09, while the dollar slipped against the Japanese yen. A dollar bought 158.08 yen, down from 158.36 late Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index edged 0.2% lower, to 19,240.89, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6% to 3,211.39. The government reported that the consumer price index rose 0.1% in December from a year earlier, while wholesale or producer prices dropped 2.3%, signaling that demand remains slack in the world's second-largest economy.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.2% to 8,329.20.

South Korea's Kospi edged less than 0.1% higher, to 2,521.90 despite strong gains for technology companies and automakers.

Taiwan's Taiex sank 1.4% and the Sensex in India was down 0.7%. In Bangkok, the SET slipped 1.8%.

“Investors continue to navigate the unpredictable ‘what if’ trading landscape molded by Trump’s presidency — where the initial enthusiasm for tax cuts is now overshadowed by mounting concerns over proposed tariffs and bizarre geopolitical aspirations, like purchasing Greenland or exerting more control over the Panama Canal,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

On Wednesday, Wall Street was steady a day after strong reports on the economy stirred up worries that inflation and interest rates may remain higher than expected.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite edged 0.1% lower. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks fell 0.5%.

Edison International tumbled 10.2% as massive wildfires burned in the Los Angeles area. The company’s Southern California Edison utility said Wednesday it shut off power to nearly 120,000 customers in six counties over safety concerns due to high winds and the risk of wildfires.

The bond market, which has been a bigger focus for Wall Street recently, moved in a narrow range after Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech that he still expects the central bank to ease rates further in 2025, pushing back against speculation it may already be done after cutting three times since September.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to closely track expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.27% from 4.29% late Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is the centerpiece of the bond market, eased to 4.67% from 4.69% late Tuesday. It was below 3.65% in September.

Waller said he doesn’t expect tariffs that are possibly coming under President-elect Donald Trump to have a “significant or persistent effect” on inflation. And even though inflation has shown stubbornness recently, he still sees it trending downward over the long term.

Higher bond yields hurt stocks by making it more expensive for companies and households to borrow and by pulling some investors toward bonds and away from stocks.

Reports on the economy Wednesday added to hope for cuts to short-term interest rates that could goose the economy and boost prices for investments.

A report Wednesday suggested that U.S. private sector employers slowed hiring in December by more than expected. A more comprehensive jobs report from the Labor Department is due Friday. The hope is that the jobs report will show enough strength to keep worries of a recession stifled but not so much that it keeps the Fed from cutting rates.

A separate report said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than expected in the latest signal that the job market remains remarkably solid.

In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil shed 16 cents to $73.16 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 8 cents to $76.08 per barrel.

The euro fell to $1.0312 from $1.0319.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person rides a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

DANIA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It was some combination of religion, a grudge involving Knute Rockne and maybe the simple notion that some people just don't like Notre Dame.

Back in the 1920s, the Fighting Irish made what might have been their biggest push to join what would become the Big Ten but the athletic director at Michigan blocked it. Ever since, Notre Dame has been an independent — an increasingly rare iconoclast as college athletics becomes more controlled by mega-conferences almost by the day.

How's that working out for the Irish?

Well, instead of splitting the $14 million they've earned by reaching the semifinals of the College Football Playoff — the way Thursday's opponent Penn State of the Big Ten must — they've pocketed every penny.

Notre Dame might not have the voice of the Southeastern Conference or Big Ten when it comes to the big-time decisions guiding this sport, but it has a seat at the table, along with another $12 million starting in 2026 — also unsplit with a league — simply for being part of this arrangement.

“For people at Notre Dame, it's a point of differentiation,” said John Heisler, the longtime sports information guru who has written 10 books on the Irish. “And it's just not something that anybody in South Bend really wants to give up on.”

It wasn't always that way. As far back as 1899, Notre Dame was looking to be admitted into what was about to become the Big Nine. That time, it essentially got passed over in favor of Iowa and Indiana.

A generation later, in 1926, Rockne, then coaching the Fighting Irish, tried again to bring Notre Dame into the Big Ten.

Michigan's athletic director, Fielding Yost, led the move to block the Irish — a move that, depending on what you read, came because he was anti-Catholic or involved in a feud with the Notre Dame legend that dated back more than a decade.

Either way, Notre Dame was left out and the Fighting Irish and Michigan, just a three-hour drive apart, didn't play from 1910-1941.

Michigan and other schools' refusal to play the team in South Bend, Indiana, opened opportunities Notre Dame still takes advantage of to this day.

The Fighting Irish have played USC every year since 1926. They have annual meetings with Army and Navy, and have played Stanford most years since 1988. More recently, they signed a deal that fills out their schedule with five games against Atlantic Coast Conference teams each season.

In today's world, where cable, streaming and social media allow for every team to market themselves as a national product, that might not sound revolutionary. Decades ago, it was.

“I think the feeling was, if Notre Dame would have just wanted to be a Midwest institution, they would've joined the Big Ten a long time ago,” Heisler said. “But that's not just the aspiration in terms of where their students in general come from, or where they recruit. They've always been very comfortable recruiting from all over the place.”

For decades, Notre Dame lived in a world where the big-name independent was not an anomaly. Miami, Pitt, Florida State and Syracuse were among them, as was this week's opponent, Penn State.

In that atmosphere, the Fighting Irish went along with others in the 1970s and joined the College Football Association, which was established to maximize value for TV rights.

By 1990, with the CFA's effectiveness as a TV market-maker in decline and Notre Dame football reaching a new golden era under Lou Holtz, the Fighting Irish in 1991 cut their own deal with NBC that, in many ways, was the first domino to fall on the multibillion-dollar road this sport is on today.

The SEC expanded to 12 teams in 1992 and added what was then a revolutionary title game to cap off its season. Over the next three-plus decades, virtually every program got caught up in the mix of mega-conferences that, in turn, have helped shape the 12-team college playoff that debuted this season.

Holding steady throughout, in part thanks to the NBC deal that runs through the 2029 season, has been Notre Dame. Even though the Irish haven't won the national title since 1988, their brand stayed strong enough to demand a spot in that playoff mix.

One drawback is that, without a conference championship available to win, the Fighting Irish could not find an easier path to the title by earning a bye that goes to those league's champions.

Another is that because the big conferences have generated such massive media rights, Notre Dame needs every penny it can get to stay competitive. Its football program has one of the nation's biggest budgets, at about $72 million a year, according to Sportico.

“We view being independent as a positive thing," coach Marcus Freeman said. "We sell it to our recruits as a positive thing. We know we can't play in a championship game and we can't have a first-round bye. But we continue to use not playing in Week 13 as our bye. In terms of the finances and the TV deals, I'd say that's another positive.”

More change is destined for college football, its playoff system and the conferences themselves.

At the joint pregame news conference Wednesday, Penn State coach James Franklin opined about the need for more uniformity across all of college football — for one, to give the playoff selection committee a more “apples to apples” comparison when sorting through teams to fill the bracket.

“This is no knock at coach or Notre Dame, but I think everyone should be in a conference," Franklin said, before almost apologetically looking at Freeman on the other end of the table.

Freeman said he doesn't have opinions as strong as Franklin's on the state of college football, and doesn't see the need for Notre Dame to someday be like everybody else.

“We pride ourselves and our independence,” the Fighting Irish coach said. “If they come out with a decision where they tell us we can't be independent, we'll make it work.”

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FILE - Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts (0) celebrates with teammate Armel Mukam (88) during the second half against Georgia in the quarterfinals of a College Football Playoff, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE- Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) celebrates after a quarterfinal game against Georgia in the College Football Playoff, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, left, and team captain Clem Crowe watch the team practice in 1925. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard (13) scrambles up field during the first half against Georgia in the quarterfinals of a College Football Playoff, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

FILE - In this 1924, file photo, Notre Dame's infamous backfield, "The Four Horsemen," from left, Don Miller, Elmer Layden, Jim Crowley and Harry Stuhldreherare pose on the practice field in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011, file photo, the hallway between the locker room and the field at Notre Dame stadium shows the sign "Play like a Champion Today" in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Joe Raymond, File)

FILE - Notre Dame's Joe Montana tries to brush off Reggie Wilkes of Georgia Tech during his six-yard gain in first quarter of an NCAA college football game, Nov. 7, 1977 game at South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/File)

FILE - Notre Dame's head coach Lou Holtz and the Fighting Irish walk onto the field of the Los Angeles Coliseum to warm up for an NCAA college football game against Southern California Saturday, Nov. 30, 1996 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)