Blue chip stocks on Wall Street fared better than the broader market as a weak consumer confidence reading offset the latest round of strong corporate earnings.Stocks traded in a narrow range throughout the day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closi
Blue chip stocks on Wall Street fared better than the broader market as a weak consumer confidence reading offset the latest round of strong corporate earnings.
Stocks traded in a narrow range throughout the day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing up 12.26 points at 10537.69 on another day of soft volumes.
The other major stock indexes ended slightly in the red, as investors pushed down copper and crude-oil prices.
The Dow was weighed down by its consumer-sensitive components as investors fretted over how they might be impacted if a drop in consumer confidence reported by the Conference Board translated to a decline in consumer spending.
American Express fell 1.9%, Home Depot dropped 1.4%, McDonald's slipped 0.7% and Walt Disney fell 0.4%.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to finish at 2288.25, while the S&P 500 index slipped 0.1% to close at 1113.84.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks closed higher, led by a surge in the banks sector after investors breathed a sigh of relief that future bank regulations won't be quite as tough as anticipated.
Strong earnings from UBS and Deutsche Bank also boosted sentiment among financials.
The revised banking rule proposals, known as “Basle III,” aren't nearly as draconian as the initial proposals announced in December.
French banks in particular benefited from the changes. Credit Agricole soared 10%, Societe Generale surged 11% and BNP Paribas jumped 5.5%. The Stoxx 600 Europe banks index closed up 4.7% at 225.40.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.4% to 258.11. The UK's FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 5365.67, Germany's DAX gained 0.2% to 6207.31 and France's CAC-40 finished 0.8% higher at 3666.40.
Asian markets ended mixed as Hong Kong and Australian stocks advanced, while Chinese shares took a break after a string of recent advances.
Early gains dissipated in Japan, Korea and Taiwan while some other markets came off the day's highs as investors locked in profits. Indian shares advanced despite an increase in interest rates by the central bank.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.1% lower at 9495.85 after rising in the previous three sessions, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.3% to 4497.40 and Korea's Kospi ended flat at 1768.31.
Taiwan's Taiex slid 0.5% to 7748.01 as did China's Shanghai Composite to 2575.37. Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index rose 0.6% 20,973.39, stretching its winning run to a sixth straight session, while India's Sensex rose 0.3% to 18,077.61.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Crude futures retreated from early gains as $US80 a barrel again proved elusive, leaving oil to fall on weakening economic data and indecisive equities markets.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled $US1.48, or 1.9%, down at $US77.50 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.31 lower at $US76.13 a barrel.
Gold futures dropped to three-month lows, as attention was focused on recent outflows from the metal.
Gold futures for August delivery settled down $US25.10, or 2.1%, at $US1,158 an ounce in New York, the lowest settlement price since April 26.
Currencies; Euro up, dollar up
The euro surrendered an 11-week high against the dollar after disappointing US consumer confidence data led investors to abandon higher-yielding currencies, such as the Australian and Canadian dollars.
Earlier, the Australian dollar had ticked to its highest level since May. Still, the euro hovered just above $US1.30 after better-than-expected euro-zone economic data and corporate earnings led to gains in European stock markets.
The euro had strengthened to $US1.3003 from $US1.2994 late on Monday, after hitting $US1.3045 intraday. The dollar was at ¥87.96 from ¥86.90. The euro was at ¥114.37 from ¥112.92. The pound was at $US1.5593 from $US1.5486.
