TOKYO - World share benchmarks were mostly lower on Tuesday after a lacklustre session on Wall Street, where technology stocks tumbled. Investors are keeping an eye on U.S. tax legislation and Brexit negotiations.

KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX slipped 0.2 per cent to 13,031.90 and the CAC 40 of France lost 0.2 per cent to 5,377.07. Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.2 per cent to 7,353.47. Wall Street looked set for a positive start, with S&P 500 futures up 0.1 per cent at 2,640.40 and Dow futures gaining 0.2 per cent to 24,356.00.

U.S. TAXES: Indexes initially jumped Monday on expectations that lower tax rates will boost corporate profits. But technology companies that already pay the lowest effective tax rates of the 11 sectors in the S&P 500 skidded. Uncertainty over the tax overhaul persists since the Senate and House of Representatives must iron out differences in their respective proposals, with a Friday deadline to avert a government shutdown looming.

BREXIT TALKS: The European Union and Britain ended a flurry of top-level diplomacy on Monday without a deal on the terms of their divorce, as agreement on how to maintain an open Irish border after Brexit slipped out of the negotiators' grasp. But the two sides said they were within striking distance of consensus, setting up a hectic negotiating rush ahead of an EU summit next week.

ANALYST VIEWPOINT: "The two overarching macro themes the market honed in on overnight have been the response from European and U.S. traders to the Senate passing its tax plan and that no deal has yet been formally reached in the Brexit negotiations," Chris Weston of IG said in a commentary. "What we have seen though is a fairly upbeat session, but perhaps not as strong as we had anticipated."

THE DAY IN ASIA: Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4 per cent to 22,622.38 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 1.0 per cent to 28,842.80. India's Sensex lost 0.2 per cent to 32,806.18. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.3 per cent to 2,510.12, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 0.2 per cent to 3,303.68. Australia's S&P ASX 200 fell 0.2 per cent to 5,971.80. Shares in Southeast Asia were mixed while Taiwan declined.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 112.53 Japanese yen from 112.41 yen late Monday. The euro slipped to $1.1857 from $1.1866, and the British pound fell $1.3416 from $1.3479.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gave up 19 cents to $57.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It slumped 89 cents to settle at $57.47 per barrel on Monday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 17 cents to $62.29 per barrel. It fell $1.28 to $62.45 a barrel in London.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017