Stocks on Wall Street fluctuated between small gains and losses as investors' worries over the impact of the Group of 20's pledge to cut budget deficits offset a boost from several Supreme Court decisions.The Dow Jones Industrial Average droped in the fin
Stocks on Wall Street fluctuated between small gains and losses as investors' worries over the impact of the Group of 20's pledge to cut budget deficits offset a boost from several Supreme Court decisions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average droped in the final hours, finishing 5.29 points, or 0.05%, down at 10,138.52. JP Morgan Chase dropped 2.1%, Alcoa slid 2% and Home Depot lost 1.8% while Coca-Cola climbed 1.8%, Intel rose 1.7% and Wal-Mart Stores gained 1.6%.
The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.1% down at 2220.65 and the S&P 500 index was down 0.2% down at 1074.57.
Consumer-staples stocks rose after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the government, which sought to revive a rejected attempt to get tobacco companies to forfeit up to $US280 billion in profits and pay $US10 billion for smoking-cessation programmes.
The tobacco companies had also filed an appeal. Reynolds American jumped 4.9%, Altria Group rose 3.5% and Lorillard climbed 3%.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks rose at the end of a choppy session, boosted by strength in the autos and construction sectors.
Renault rose 3.1% and Daimler rose 2.9%, rebounding from Friday when UBS downgraded Daimler to "neutral" from "buy." Construction stocks also advanced, with the Pan European Stoxx 600 construction sector index up 2.1%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index closed up 1.2% at 251.23. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.5% to 5071.68, France's CAC-40 index ended up 1.6% at 3576.45 and Germany's DAX added 1.4% to 6157.22.
Asian stocks ended mixed in cautious trade.
Japanese shares were led lower by Mizuho Financial Group after the banking giant announced plans to raise billions of dollars from a share sale.
Several energy sector shares climbed after crude-oil prices rose on Friday. Shares of Cnooc climbed 2.5% and PetroChina added 0.2% in Hong Kong, with Oil Search advancing 0.4% in Sydney and Oil & Natural Gas climbing 3.6% in Mumbai.
The Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.5% to 9693.94 in Tokyo, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7% to 4409.69, Korea's Kospi rose 0.1% to 1732.03 and China's Shanghai Composite Index gave up 0.7% to 2535.28.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 0.2% to 20,726.68, Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.4% to 7500.79, India's Sensex advanced 1.1% to 17,774.26 and Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.6% to 2869.99.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude futures backed off from seven-week highs as fears eased that a developing tropical storm would disrupt Gulf of Mexico oil production.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery fell 76USc, or 1%, to $US78.10 a barrel in New York. The contract traded in a range of $US77.92 to $US79.38, hitting the highest intraday level since May 6. August North Sea Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange recently fell 57USc to $US77.55 a barrel.
Gold futures erased slight losses, nearing a fresh record as market participants continue favoring the metal in its perceived role as a safe-haven investment.
The most actively traded gold contract for August delivery was up $US3.20, or 0.3%, at $US1259.40 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Euro down, pound up
The euro declined over concerns about financial-system strains.
A European Central Bank lending facility expires this week. Banks have to repay €442 billion in one-year funds to the ECB on Thursday, raising fears of a liquidity shortfall.
The euro fell to an all-time low against the Swiss franc and dropped to a 19-month low of €0.8161 against the pound, while the pound hit a two-month high of $US1.5118, up from $1.5061.
The euro was at $US1.2331 from $US1.2386 late on Friday. The dollar was at ¥89.30 from ¥89.27 while the euro was at ¥110.05 from 110.57.
The dollar was at 1.0862 Swiss francs from 1.0927 francs late on Friday.
