Stocks on Wall Street staged a late advance after an earlier rebound ran out of steam, capping the worst August since 2001.The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished just 4.99 points up at 10,014.72 but was down 4.7% for the month and its first August loss
Stocks on Wall Street staged a late advance after an earlier rebound ran out of steam, capping the worst August since 2001.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished just 4.99 points up at 10,014.72 but was down 4.7% for the month and its first August loss in five years.
Trading volumes continued at low levels with only 2.7 billion shares changing hands on the New York Stock Exchange, far less than the month's average daily volume of 4.03 billion shares, or the year's average of 5.1 billion.
Investors had lowered their expectations for economic growth in response to a flood of weak data this month. In latest news, consumer confidence improved and home prices increased.
Technology stocks trailed other sectors after researcher Gartner cut its 2010 projection for world-wide personal-computer shipments, saying the second half won't be a strong as it previously expected.
Intel shares fell 0.8%, while Cisco Systems declined 0.8% and flash-memory device maker SanDisk fell 1.5%.
The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.3% lower at 2114.03 while the broader S&P 500 index posted a slight gain at 1049.33.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stocks finished up and well off their intraday lows.
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The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended up 0.1% at 251.31. The UK's FTSE 100, which resumed trading after Monday's public holiday, closed up 0.5% at 5225.22. Germany's DAX gained 0.2% to 5925.22 and France's CAC-40 closed 0.1% higher at 3490.79.
In Asia, Japan's stock market tumbled 3.6% to a fresh 16-month low as investors fretted over the adverse impact of a rising yen on the nation's economy and exporters.
The Nikkei Stock Average tumbled 325.20 points to 8824.06, its lowest close since late April 2009. During August the Nikkei was the worst performer among major Asian indexes, losing 7.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1% to 20536.49, resuming its decline a day after it snapped a six-session losing streak.
China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 2638.80, Taiwan's Taiex shed 1.6% to 7616.28, Korea's Kospi declined 1% to 1742.75 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 4404.23.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude futures tumbled, as investors turned their attention toward increasingly high US oil supplies and the slowing economy.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery recently traded $US2.10, or 2.8%, lower at $US72.60 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded down $US1.75, or 2.2%, at $US74.85 a barrel.
Gold futures hit a two-month high on worries about the strength of the economic recovery.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, recently rose $US8.60, or 0.7%, to $US1247.80 an ounce in New York, the highest price for the contract since June 30.
Currencies: Yen up, dollar down
The US dollar fell against the yen and dropped to its lowest level since January against the Swiss franc on as investors shrugged off better-than-expected economic data.
The euro was at $US1.2710 from $US1.2665 late on Monday. The dollar was at ¥84.09 from ¥84.55, while the euro was at ¥106.90 from ¥107.09.
The UK pound was at $US1.5345 from $US1.5461. The dollar was at 1.0146 Swiss francs from 1.0263 francs. It fell as low as 1.0136 francs.
