Stocks on Wall Street stumbled under heavy afternoon selling after briefly peaking at the year's high during intraday trading.At the peak, the Dow Jones Industrial Avergae was 29 points above its 2010 closing high back in January.But a selloff in technolo
Stocks on Wall Street stumbled under heavy afternoon selling after briefly peaking at the year's high during intraday trading.
At the peak, the Dow Jones Industrial Avergae was 29 points above its 2010 closing high back in January.
But a selloff in technology stocks wiped out the gains and at the closing bell the Dow had gained just 2.19 points, finishing at 10,405.98, 22 points shy of its 2009 close.
Microsoft led the decliners with a 1.9% drop. Intel and Hewlett Packard were both off 0.8% while Bank of America was the other big loser, down 1.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% to 2280.79 and the S&P 500 index was up 0.2% to 1118.31.
Other markets
European stocks were little changed, trading in a tight range as investors awaited clarification over how Greece will resolve its debt problems.
Deutsche Telekom lost 1% after Barclays Capital downgraded the stock after the company's 2009 results. On the upside, Allied Irish Banks rose 5% after its full-year results topped expectations, despite the company posting its first ever full year loss and saying the outlook and environment remained challenging.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index was down 0.3% at 248.31. London's FTSE 100 Index was just 0.2% higher at 5415, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.1% at 5720, and the CAC-40 Index in Paris was flat at 3770.
Asian shares ended mostly higher as technology stocks gained ground on buoyant consumer demand, though disappointing earnings results from HSBC Holdings dragged on Hong Kong.
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its policy interest rate for the fourth time in five meetings, by a quarter percentage point to 4%, capping gains in Sydney, while robust sales in February boosted automobile shares in Mumbai.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3% to 4701.92, Japan's Nikkei 225 Average gained 0.5% to 10,221.84, Taiwan's Taiex inched up 0.3% to 7597.62, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.5% to 3073.11 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.7% to 20,906.11.
Indian, South Korean and Thai shares posted solid gains to catch up with regional advances during Monday's holiday in the three markets. The Kospi finished 1.3% up at 1615.12 in Seoul and India's Sensex rose 2.1% to 16,772.56.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures were higher with investors seeking riskier assets.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery traded 98USc, or 1.7%, higher at $US79.68 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.29, or 1.7%, higher at $US78.18.
Gold futures hit their highest level in six weeks as the metal followed crude oil higher and was boosted by further buying against currencies.
Most-active April gold settled $US19.10, or 1.7%, higher at $US1137.40 an ounce in New York. Lightly traded but nearby March gold settled $US19.10, or 1.4%, up at $US1136.90.
Currencies: Canadian dollar soars
The Canadian dollar gained strongly against the US dollar after the Bank of Canada left key interest rates unchanged at 0.25% but issued a slightly rosier assessment of its economy.
The US dollar dropped to $C1.0335 from $C1.0417 late on Monday. The US dollar initially fell as far as $C1.0310, its lowest level since January 20.
The Canadian announcement followed a decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase key rates, pointing to two economies emerging from the global doldrums as the euro zone struggles with issues of sovereign debt.
The downward pressure on the pound was much less intense than in Monday's session after recent polls showed the chances of a hung Parliament had eased somewhat.
The euro is at $US1.3552 from $US1.3560 late on Monday. The dollar is at ¥88.96 from ¥89.09, while the euro is at ¥120.56 from ¥120.79.
The UK pound is at $US1.4939 from $US1.4989.
