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Dow touches record high, S&P 500 and Nasdaq drop

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Short-term US yields drop

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Crude oil prices fall ahead of Trump-Putin meeting

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US dollar weakens, gold prices rise

(New throughout, updates prices and headline, adds fresh

analyst quote and New York dateline)

By Chibuike Oguh and Iain Withers

NEW YORK/LONDON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Global stocks were

flat but still traded near record highs on Friday as investors

awaited talks in Alaska between U.S. President Donald Trump and

his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.

Short-term U.S. Treasury bond yields fell with markets

anticipating a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

The Dow hit a record high earlier in the session, becoming

the last of Wall Street's main indexes to soar to a new peak.

Benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were losing ground, dragged

down by technology, utilities and financials stocks. The Dow

Jones Industrial Average rose 0.09%, the S&P 500

fell 0.25% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.36%.

"This market continues to move higher and the story is just

earnings and margins," said Talley Leger, chief market

strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group in New Jersey.

"The inflation numbers that we saw this week were mostly

services and in a services-based economy like ours, this is good

for profit margins."

Data showed that U.S. retail sales increased solidly in

July, rising 0.5% from the prior month, after an unexpected

spike in producer price data on Thursday renewed inflation

concerns and pared market expectations for Federal Reserve rate

cuts this year.

European shares touched a near five-month high before

pulling back, as investors drew support from a largely positive

earnings season. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was

flat at 0.08%.

The MSCI All Country World Index

consolidated recent gains. It was last up 0.05% at 952.34, just

shy of the record level of 954.21 set on Wednesday.

The White House has said the Trump-Putin meeting will take

place at 11 a.m. Alaska time (1900 GMT), with the U.S.

president's hopes of a ceasefire agreement on Ukraine uncertain.

Trump has said a second summit involving Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy could follow if the talks go well.

Details and the longevity of any agreement will be key, and

for now investors are on standby. Ukraine's government bonds -

key indicators of the mood - in recent days have largely stalled

at a still-distressed 55 cents on the dollar.

"There's still a small degree of risk premium in European

markets because of the war. Any type of resolution will

ultimately pare that back," said Shaniel Ramjee, co-head of

multi-asset at Pictet Asset Management, adding that oil and

other commodity prices could also react.

"But I think that the market has learnt not to expect too

much from these negotiations. Ultimately, Zelenskiy and the

Europeans are not invited. They will need to be involved in any

final negotiation," Ramjee added.

The two-year note yield, which typically moves in

step with interest rate expectations for the Fed, fell 0.9 basis

points to 3.73%. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes

rose 0.3 basis points to 4.297%.

In currency markets, the dollar weakened 0.64% to 146.82

against the Japanese yen and was down 0.35% to 0.805

against the Swiss franc. The euro

was up 0.57% at $1.1712.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against

a basket of six major currencies, was last trading down 0.45% at

97.74.

Japanese GDP data released on Friday showed the economy

expanding by an annualised 1.0% in the April-to-June quarter,

beating analyst estimates. The dollar weakened 0.6% against the

yen to 146.875.

Brent crude was down 0.79% at $66.32 per barrel.

U.S. crude fell 0.89% to $63.45.

Spot gold rose 0.17% to $3,341.26 an ounce. U.S. gold

futures rose 0.22% to $3,342.70 an ounce.

Cryptocurrency markets stabilised after bitcoin

touched a record $124,480.82 on Thursday. It was down 0.35% to

$117,531.48.