Stocks on Wall Street have taken a breather after four straight weeks of gains.In Europe, financial stocks slipped after Moody's downgraded the debt of Anglo Irish Bank by three notches. Among Dow stocks, Bank of America fell 1.4%, while J.P. Morgan Chase
Stocks on Wall Street have taken a breather after four straight weeks of gains.
In Europe, financial stocks slipped after Moody's downgraded the debt of Anglo Irish Bank by three notches. Among Dow stocks, Bank of America fell 1.4%, while J.P. Morgan Chase shed 1.2%..
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 47.91 points, or 0.4%, down at 10,812.35. On Friday, the Dow index rallied 1.9%, posting its highest close since May 12 and gained 2.4% in the last week.
It is still ontrack for an 8% gain in September, the best for the month since 1939.
The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5% to 2369.77 and the S&P 500 index lost 0.6% to 1142.23, weighed down by its financial and healthcare sectors.
Dealmaking remains high. Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores edged down 0.6% after making a preliminary, nonbinding proposal to buy Johannesburg-based Massmart Holdings for $US4.6 billion.
Unilever rose 1.1% after agreeing to buy Alberto Culver for $US3.7 billion in cash, moving to expand its presence in the hair-conditioning and shampoo market. Alberto Culver shares jumped 20%.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stock markets declined on the negative banking news, though other corporate news was relatively upbeat.
While Unilever was making acquisitions in the US, Nestlé shares added 0.2% after it said it would invest hundreds of millions of Swiss francs in a new venture that will harness its food and pharmaceutical expertise to produce more products with health benefits.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.4% to 262.92,. The UK's FTSE 100 index slid 0.4% to 5573.42. France's CAC-40 index declined 0.4% to 3766.16 and Germany's DAX eased 0.3% to 6278.89.
Japanese shares lead Asian markets higher, snapping a three-day losing streak, as exporters and resource stocks rose.
The rebound came despite heavy losses in Japanese consumer finance shares after the Nikkei reported Takefuji Corp. is weighing plans to file for bankruptcy protection. The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 1.4% to end at 9603.14,
Chinese equities advanced as trading resumed after last week's holidays, while Hong Kong shares stretched their winning run to end at an eight-month high. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.4% to 2627.97 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index advanced 1% to 22,340.84.
Korean shares ended at their highest level in more than two years, as did Indian shares. The Kospi finished 0.8% higher at 1860.83 and India's Sensex was up 0.4% to 20,117.38.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.6% to 4675.37 and Taiwan’s Taiex rose 0.3% to 8191.54.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures turned lower, giving back some gains from Friday's rally as investors grew wary of pushing crude toward the top of its recent trading range.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery traded 60USc, or 0.8%, lower at $US75.89 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 84USc lower at $US78.06 a barrel.
Gold futures remained near the historic $US1300 mark. The most-actively traded gold contract for December delivery was up $US1.80, or 0.1%, at $US1299.90 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Euro, pound up
The euro pierced through $US1.35 to the strongest point against the dollar since April, while the UK pound sailed to the strongest point since August 10, at $US1.5867.
The euro was at $US1.3482, compared with $US1.3491 late on Friday. The dollar weakened to ¥84.13 from ¥84.25. The euro weakened to ¥113.42 from ¥113.70.
The UK pound strengthened to $US1.5855 from $US1.5828. The dollar weakened to 0.9835 Swiss francs from 0.9849.
