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U.S. stocks mostly dip early

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Yen strengthens vs US dollar

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Treasury yields decline

(Updates to 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT))

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - Global stock indexes edged

lower in choppy trading Thursday as Micron Technology ( MU )

shares fell and weighed on semiconductors, while the Japanese

yen strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar.

U.S. Treasury yields declined slightly after a series of

U.S. economic reports, which mostly suggested ebbing economic

momentum, supporting the view the Federal Reserve could soon

begin cutting interest rates.

The data included a report showing first-time applications

for U.S. unemployment benefits drifted lower last week, but the

number of people on jobless rolls jumped to a 2-1/2 year high in

mid-June.

Traders are waiting for Friday's U.S. personal

consumption expenditures (PCE) data, which is the Fed's

preferred inflation measure and could help traders determine the

outlook for the Fed's interest rates.

The yen was last up slightly against the U.S. dollar, but

remained near its weakest in 38 years versus the dollar, keeping

investors on alert for any sign of intervention from Japanese

authorities to prop up the currency.

Japan's finance minister has said he would take any

necessary action on currencies, and that Japanese authorities

were "deeply concerned" about the effect of the yen's drop on

the economy.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.21% against

the greenback at 160.49 per dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, fell 0.22% at 105.82, with the

euro up 0.28% at $1.0709.

Wall Street's major stock indexes mostly dipped, with

chipmaker Micron Technology ( MU ) shares down 6% after a

disappointing revenue forecast late Wednesday. An index of

semiconductors was down 1%.

"It's going to be a bit difficult for the tech sector

to drive on the market the way that it's done," said Mike

Gallagher, director of research at Continuum Economics.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.48 points,

or 0.15%, to 39,186.28, the S&P 500 lost 6.95 points, or

0.13%, to 5,470.95 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 25.86

points, or 0.15%, to 17,779.33.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

1.42 points, or 0.18%, to 802.31. The STOXX 600 index

fell 0.41%.

France, Italy and Spain will also release inflation data

on Friday.

Investors had become more worried about inflation following

a surprise jump in inflation data in Australia on Wednesday and

in Canada on Tuesday.

Also, the first round of French parliamentary elections will

take place on Sunday.

In U.S. Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year

notes fell 3.5 basis points to 4.281%, from 4.316%

late on Wednesday.

U.S. crude gained 0.93% to $81.65 a barrel and Brent

rose to $86.05 per barrel, up 0.94% on the day.

(Additional reporting by Ankika Biswas and Lisa Mattackal in

Bengaluru and Elizabeth Howcroft in London

Editing by Mark Potter and Josie Kao)