Stocks on Wall Street have pulled back from Tuesday's surge, which took the blue chip index to its highest in 18 months.The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 52.68 points, or 0.5%, lower at 10,836.15 after disappointing guidance from General Mills and a
Stocks on Wall Street have pulled back from Tuesday’s surge, which took the blue chip index to its highest in 18 months.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 52.68 points, or 0.5%, lower at 10,836.15 after disappointing guidance from General Mills and a drop in new-home sales.
Procter & Gamble was the measure's worst performer, off 1.2%, as the consumer-staples sector slumped. General Mills boosted its projection for its fiscal-year earnings, but the outlook was still below analysts' average estimate. The shares, which are not a Dow component, fell 1.6%.
AT&T and Verizon Communications were also lower after Sprint Nextel unveiled the first US phone able to tap into super-high speeds. AT&T fell 1.1% while Verizon slipped 1%. Sprint, not a Dow component, jumped 5.7%.
Keeping the Dow's decline in check, Bank of America jumped 2.4% after it announced plans to expand its business in China and Asia.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.7% to 2398.76 and the S&P 500 was off 0.55% at 1167.72, with its telecommunications and staples sectors leading the declines.
Other markets
European stocks edged up to fresh multi-month highs ahead of a two-day summit where Greece’s debt crisis is the over-riding issue.
The euro continues to be under pressure, falling to a 10-month low against the US dollar.
In London, UK Treasury Minister Alistair Darling released the Labour government's budget, which had little impact on stocks, while the pound fell nearly 1% against the dollar.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.1% to 262.19. The UK's FTSE 100 index gained 0.1% to 5677.88 and Germany's DAX was 0.4% higher at 6039.00. France's CAC-40 Index fell 0.1% to 3949.81.
Asian markets ended mostly higher, with strong corporate earnings boosting Hong Kong and Chinese stocks.
In Tokyo, Nintendo surged more than 8% in Tokyo on plans to release a new 3D game console. Exporters with a strong exposure to Europe fell as the euro stretched its recent losing run against the Japanese yen, with Mazda sliding 1.7% and Honda slipping 0.3%. The Nikkei 225 Average climbed 0.4% to 10,815.03,
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3% 4891.54, while Taiwan's Taiex, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index all rose 0.1%.
Korea's Kospi slipped 0.1% to 1681.01 and Singapore’s Straits Times fell 0.6% to 2886.36. Markets in India were closed for a public holiday.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Oil futures briefly dipped below $US80 a barrel in a seventh session decline after the US reported a massive build in crude stocks.
The 7.3 million barrel build in crude inventories last week was significantly more than expectations of a 1.4 million barrel increase by analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. But it was in line with the 7.5 million barrel build reported by the American Petroleum Institute.
The May delivery contract settled $US1.30, or 1.6%, lower at $US80.61 in New York after dipping to $US79.88 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.08, or 1.3%, lower at $US79.62 a barrel.
Gold futures hit their lowest level in nearly six weeks as the dollar rose to its strongest level against the euro in 10 months.
April gold settled $US14.90, or 1.4%, down at $US1088.80 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The euro fell sharply to 10-month lows against the US, as concerns over sovereign debt in Portugal added to those in Greece.
The euro's woes led investors to pile out of stocks and commodities into the safety of the dollar, which soared to a 10-month high against a trade-weighted basket of its major competitors and rose more than 1.1% against the euro.
The euro finished at $US1.3324 from $US1.3501 late on Tuesday. The dollar rallied to ¥91.92 from ¥90.41, while the euro is at ¥122.70 from ¥122.06.
The UK pound was at $US1.4902 from $US1.5046. The dollar was at 1.0697 Swiss francs from 1.0576 francs.
