(Updates US prices)

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US stocks mixed, tech in focus

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Dollar at two-week lows

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Oil falls after Trump says he will ask Saudi Arabia to cut

prices

By Amanda Cooper, Koh Gui Qing

LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Global stocks

steadied on Thursday, as a rally fueled by President Donald

Trump's spending plans for artificial intelligence

infrastructure fizzled and caution set in over what the new U.S.

president's next moves on trade might be.

In a sign of policies to come, Trump told business leaders at

the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday that

he wants to lower global oil prices, interest rates and taxes,

and warned they will face tariffs if they make their products

abroad.

"I'll demand that interest rates drop immediately. And

likewise, they should be dropping all over the world," Trump

said via video conference on Thursday.

Investors are most nervous right now about Trump's possible

plans for imposing tariffs. With no new details available, the

uncertainty weighed on equity markets while Treasury yields rose

for a second day, as bond investors braced for an eventual

imposition of tariffs that may stoke inflation.

"President Trump's policies are creating the perfect storm

of inflationary pressures," said Nigel Green, CEO of deVere

Group, a financial advisory firm, adding that another buildup in

price pressures could cause the Federal Reserve to raise

interest rates.

"The Fed may have no choice but to act. This could trigger

significant market volatility," Green said.

The MSCI index for global stocks edged up

0.3%, while U.S. stocks were mixed. The S&P 500 rose

0.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% and the

Nasdaq Composite was little changed.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbed 4.7

basis points to 4.6456%, below last week's 14-month high of

4.809%.

"Obviously, it's early days ... We have seen no surprises

(from Trump) so far," said Guy Miller, chief markets strategist

at Zurich Insurance Group.

"If anything, some restraint was shown. So that has allowed

the financial markets to reprice to some extent, allowing bond

yields to come back in again and risk assets to move higher," he

said.

In Europe, the STOXX 600, which hit a record high on

Wednesday, edged up 0.4%, as some selling pressure abated on

technology shares, which had soared after Trump

announced a $500 billion private-sector AI infrastructure

investment plan.

The joint venture, which involves Oracle, OpenAI and

SoftBank, initially turbo-charged a rally in global

stock markets, which drew further support from upbeat earnings.

On Asian markets overnight, Japan's Nikkei gained

0.8%. Shares of SoftBank jumped 5%.

In China, the government announced plans to channel hundreds of

billions of yuan of investment from state-owned insurers into

shares, just after Trump said he was proposing to slap a 10%

punitive duty on Chinese imports.

The CSI300 blue-chip index ended the day up 0.18%,

while the yuan weakened against the dollar to 7.289 in offshore

trading.

TARIFF THREATS

Action in currency markets was largely subdued after a

volatile few sessions since Trump's return to the White House,

driven by his pronouncements on tariffs early in the week.

Trump has said he plans to impose duties on imports from Mexico

and Canada from Feb. 1 and has said he will apply tariffs on

imports from the European Union.

In the absence of further specifics, the dollar struggled to

push higher and Thursday's data fed in to the idea among traders

that the Federal Reserve may have more room to lower rates this

year.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency

against six others, languished near a two-week low of 108.07.

The euro was steady at $1.0427, as was sterling

at $1.236.

"The threat of tariffs continues to hang over markets, but

the rapidly declining half life of headlines shows you the

market is already numb to the shenanigans," said Brent Donnelly,

president at Spectra Markets.

Ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision on Friday, the

dollar rose to a one-week high against the yen at

156.19 before retreating to 155.91. Markets have already fully

priced in a 25-basis-point rate hike at the conclusion of the

meeting.

Oil prices remained below $80 a barrel, under pressure after

Trump said he will be asking Saudi Arabia and OPEC to bring down

the cost of oil. Investors are also worried about how Trump's

proposed tariffs could affect global economic growth and demand

for energy.

Brent crude futures were last down 0.9% on the day

at $78.32 a barrel.