Stocks on Wall Street showed little movement with blue chips edging slightly higher but the broader stocks remaining steady in light trading on the Columbus Day holiday.The market is awaiting several bellwether third-quarter earnings reports later in the
Stocks on Wall Street showed little movement with blue chips edging slightly higher but the broader stocks remaining steady in light trading on the Columbus Day holiday.
The market is awaiting several bellwether third-quarter earnings reports later in the week after a better-than-expected start to the season from aluminum giant Alcoa. Results are due this week from Intel, JP Morgan Chase, Google and General Electric.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just 2.11 points up at 11,008.59. On Friday, the Dow closed above 11,000 for the first time since May 3, as a bleak jobs report increased investors' confidence that the Federal Reserve will take renewed action to support the economy when it meets in early November.
The Nasdaq Composite was up less than a point to 2402.33 while the S&P 500 index was virtually unchanged at 1165.04.
Technology stocks climbed, with shares of Apple and IBM both hitting all-time highs. Microsoft was also up after lifting the curtain on a lineup of smartphones using its revamped Windows Phone 7 mobile-operating system.
Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European stocks ended with modest gains. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.4% to 263.20.
The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to 5672.40, the French CAC 40 index added 0.1% at 3768.49 and the German DAX 30 index moved up 0.3% to 6309.51.
Most major Asian markets ended higher, led by mining and metals stocks.
China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 2.5% 2806.94 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index expanded 1.2% to end at 23,207.31 – its highest closing level since June 2008.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3% to 4697.50, Korea's Kospi fell 0.4% to 1889.91, Taiwan's Taiex lost 0.8% to 8176.76 and India's Sensex climbed 0.4% to 20,339.89.
Markets in Tokyo were closed for a public holiday.
Commodities: Oil down, gold steady
Crude futures fell on a slight rebound in the US dollar.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery traded down 35USc, or 0.4%, at $US82.31 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 53USc lower at $US83.50 a barrel.
Gold futures were little changed, creating a lull in the metal's record rally as expectations remained that the US Federal Reserve will act to jumpstart the economy.
The most-actively traded copper contract, for December delivery, was down 20USc at $US1345.10 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The US dollar bounced back from a 15-year-low against the yen, as investors remained on alert for the possibility of Japanese government intervention in currency markets.
Overall, the dollar rose slightly in thin trading, though the focus stayed on the likelihood of more policy-easing measures from the Fed. Such measures would keep US interest rates ultralow, which makes dollar-denominated assets less attractive to investors from abroad.
The dollar was at ¥82.07 from ¥82.08 late on Friday. The euro was at $US1.3877 from $US1.3929, and at ¥113.93 from ¥114.33.
The UK pound was at $US1.5889 from $US1.5957. The dollar was at 0.9651 Swiss franc from 0.9639 franc.
