Most stocks on Wall Street slipped despite encouraging employment and retail-sales numbers.Investors are jittery ahead of quarterly earnings reports and monthly jobs data on Friday. The reporting season will kick off after the session closes.Latest weekly
Most stocks on Wall Street slipped despite encouraging employment and retail-sales numbers.
Investors are jittery ahead of quarterly earnings reports and monthly jobs data on Friday. The reporting season will kick off after the session closes.
Latest weekly jobs data showed the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell to their lowest level since July 10.
Retailers' same-store sales results for September provided some encouragement, with many companies topping expectations for back-to-school sales.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.07 points, or 0.2%, to 10,948.58. AT&T was off 1.5%, 3M down 1.5% and JP Morgan Chase off 1.4%. Alcoa was also weak, off 1.1% ahead of its third-quarter earnings report due after the close.
The S&P 500 index eased 0.1% to 1158.06. Every sector was in the red, with materials companies in the lead.
By contrast, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% to 2383.67.
Other markets: Europe steady, Asia mixed
European stocks ended narrowly mixed with the Stoxx Europe 600 index easing 0.1% to 262.31. The UK's FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 5662.13, with the influential mining sector pulling the index lower.
Germany's DAX edged up 0.1% to 6276.25 and France's CAC-40 also added 0.1%, to 3770.47.
In Asia, Australian stocks advanced on robust jobs data, while Korean shares were dragged lower on disappointment over Samsung Electronics' earnings forecast.
Earnings worries also pushed Indian software shares lower.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.1% to 4691.26, Korea's Kospi fell 0.2% to 1900.85 and India's Sensex fell 1.1% to 20315.32.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average slipped 0.1% to 9684.81. China's markets remained closed for the Golden Week holiday.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures retreated from five-month highs as a rebound in the dollar caused traders to question the strength of the recent rally.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery traded 25USc lower at $US82.98 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 65USc higher at $US84.41 a barrel.
Gold prices continued to rise amid global fears of falling currency values and the weaker dollar.
The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, was up 0.8%, or $US10.60, at $US1,358.30 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar down
The US dollar slumped broadly, hitting a 15-year low against the yen, a record low against the Swiss franc and its lowest level since 1983 against the Australian dollar.
The euro was at $US1.3903, down from $US1.3936 late on Wednesday, and rose as high as $US1.4030.
The dollar was at ¥82.43, down from ¥82.91, after falling as low as ¥82.11, while the euro was at ¥114.60, down from ¥115.55.
The UK pound was at $US1.5901, down from $US1.5890. The dollar was at 0.9641 Swiss franc, from 0.9611 franc, after earlier dropping to 0.9555 franc.
