Non-tech stocks on Wall Street dropped as investors took a breather from last week's rally.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.90 points, or 0.2% to 11,362.19 at the close (10am NZ time).Bank of America led the decline, slipping 1.1%. Keeping the
Non-tech stocks on Wall Street dropped as investors took a breather from last week’s rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.90 points, or 0.2% to 11,362.19 at the close (10am NZ time).
Bank of America led the decline, slipping 1.1%. Keeping the Dow's losses in check, Cisco rose 2.5% after Oppenheimer raised its stock-investment on the company to outperform from perform.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 2594.92 while the S&P 500 index slipped 0.1% to 1223.12.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks edged marginally higher in choppy trade as concerns over sovereign-debt markets continue to hit banks.
The Stoxx Europe 600 banking index was down 1.2% with Intesa Sanpaolo down 2.9%, UniCredit falling 2.7% and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria shedding 2.6%.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2% at 271.38. The UK FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 5770.28, Germany's DAX was up 0.1% at 6954.38 and France’s CAC-40 index was down marginally at 3749.23.
Asian stocks ended mixed as investors considered disappointing US non-farm payrolls data released Friday and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's weekend comment that a further expansion of the asset-purchase programme was possible.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1% to 10,167.23, while the broader Topix gained 0.3% to 881.41.
China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.5% to 2857.18, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.4% to 23,237.69 and Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.9% to 8702.23.
Australia’s S&P/ASX fell 0.1% to 4688.62, Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% to 1953.64 and India’s Sensex rose 0.1% to 19,981.31.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures retreated from a fresh two-year high on the back of a stronger dollar.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery recently was down 15USc, or 0.2%, to $US89.04 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 5USc, or 0.1%, to $US91.37 a barrel.
Gold futures were climbing back toward their record highs as inflation concerns in the US lured investors.
The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, was up 0.9%, or $US12.70, at $US1418.10 per ounce in New York.
The most active contract set an intraday record of $US1426.00 and a settlement record of $US1412.40 on November 9.
Currencies: Euro down, dollar up
The euro fell against the dollar as traders ditched the common currency, unnerved by the still-developing sovereign debt crisis.
The US dollar rose against the yen as market participants were soothed after Mr Bernanke expressed confidence that "it doesn't seem likely" the US economy would fall into recession again.
The euro was at $US1.3286 from $US1.3411 late on Friday. The dollar was at ¥82.78 from ¥82.71, while the euro was at ¥109.97 from ¥110.86.
The UK pound was at $US1.5677 from $US1.5771. The dollar was at 0.9871 Swiss franc from 0.9755 franc.
