(Updates with Wall Street's performance, adds quote)

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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 to ask Saudi Arabia to cut

prices

By Amanda Cooper and Koh Gui Qing

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

steadied on Thursday, as a rally fuelled by 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.

Weekly data showed the number of Americans filing for

unemployment benefits rose a little more than expected in the

most recent week, which dented the dollar and lifted stocks as

it showed the labor market is strong.

The dominant factor for markets is what Trump plans to do

about imposing tariffs. With no new details, 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 was flat,

while U.S. stocks were mixed. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1%,

the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4% and the

Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.2%.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield climbed 5.7

basis points to 4.6558%, 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 0.3%, 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 in 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 any more specifics, the dollar struggled

to push higher and Thursday's data fed into 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 108.31.

The euro was steady at $1.0398, as was sterling

at $1.232.

"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. 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 from

concern over how Trump's proposed tariffs could affect global

economic growth and demand for energy.

Brent crude futures were last down 0.6% on the day

at $78.49 a barrel after Trump said he will be asking Saudi

Arabia and the OPEC to bring down the cost of oil.

(Additional reporting by Dhara Ranasinghe in London; Editing by

Mark Potter and Rod Nickel)