Stocks on Wall Street slipped as a sharp drop in crude inventories helped boost oil prices and energy stocks.At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 24.15 points, or 0.2%, to 10,833.99, while the S&P 500 index was down 0.3% to 1144.59.
Stocks on Wall Street slipped as a sharp drop in crude inventories helped boost oil prices and energy stocks.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 24.15 points, or 0.2%, to 10,833.99, while the S&P 500 index was down 0.3% to 1144.59. Energy stocks led the S&P sectors as Sunoco rose 3.1%, Hess gained 1.6% and Chevron added 0.7%.
But Dow component Exxon Mobil remained lower, off 0.5%, as the US Department of Energy said stockpiles fell 475,000 barrels to 357.9 million barrels, more than an expected 300,000-barrel decline. The steep drop helped oil prices jump to $US77.45 a barrel after falling as low as $US75.60 a barrel.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1% to 2376.56, though some technology stocks bucked the trend, helped by a 2.5% gain at Hewlett-Packard after it said revenue would rise more than earlier forecast.
Another Dow stock, IBM, added 0.5% after purchasing a maker of ethernet switches, putting the two tech giants in more direct competition.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stock markets fell as concerns about the fiscal health of euro-zone countries such as Ireland and Spain continued to rattle sentiment.
In Ireland, the government is expected to detail its latest plans for fixing Anglo Irish Bank. Most bank shares fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600 banks index down 1.5% to 211.08
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 0.5% at 261.02. The UK's FTSE 100 index lost 0.2% to 5569.27, France's CAC-40 index declined 0.7% to 3737.12 and Germany's DAX was off 0.5% to 6246.92.
Asian stocks mostly advanced, with shares in Tokyo boosted by a better-than-expected business sentiment in the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey.
Chinese property developers fell on worries about further policy tightening in the wake of upbeat manufacturing data. In India, shares were dragged down by Sterlite Industries after a court ordered the closure of its copper smelting plant.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 0.7% to 9559.38 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on 1.2% to 22,378.67. Korea's Kospi and Taiwan's Taiex both added 0.6% each to 1866.45 and 8240.89 respectively. Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.3% to 3106.03.
China's Shanghai Composite was down marginally at 2610.68 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5% to 46444.98. India's Sensex fell 0.7% to 19,956.34.
Commodities: Oil up, gold down
After two-straight sessions of mostly sideways price movements in crude, the latest US inventory data showing a steep drop offered some optimistic signals on the oil fundamentals.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery recently traded 13USc higher at $US76.31 a barrel in New York after trading as high as $US76.49 after the report was released. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 38USc higher at $US79.09 a barrel.
Gold pulled back from record highs but remained above $US1300 as the dollar weakened and investors kept buying the metal as a refuge.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, was up $US1.20, or 0.1%, at $US1309.50 an ounce in New York. It hit a record intraday high of $US1314.80 in electronic trading.
Currencies: Dollar, euro down
The euro retreated from a five-month high against the dollar as investors tried to decipher whether European leaders were proactive or laissez-faire in addressing the region's ills.
Overall, the dollar gave up minor ground to the euro and the yen on the assumption that US Federal Reserve stimulus remains more a question of when, not if.
The dollar hit ¥83.51, the weakest point since the Japanese government spent roughly $US20 billion on September 15 to weaken its currency. The greenback also remains at lows last seen in March 2008 against the Swiss franc, touching 0.9735 franc.
The euro was at $US1.3631, compared with $US1.3578 late on Tuesday. The dollar was at ¥83.61 from ¥83.96. The euro was flat at ¥113.97 from ¥114.00. The U. pound was up to $US1.5797 from $US1.5793. The dollar fell to 0.9756 Swiss francs, from 0.9767 francs.
