Stocks on Wall Street have slumped as durable goods orders dropped and the Federal Reserve added more economic pessimism to the outlook.The Fed's latest "beige book" report of economic conditions showed improvement in most of its 12 regional dis
Stocks on Wall Street have slumped as durable goods orders dropped and the Federal Reserve added more economic pessimism to the outlook.
The Fed's latest "beige book" report of economic conditions showed improvement in most of its 12 regional districts, but with only modest advances in retail sales and weak numbers in housing and construction.
The weak economic assessment added to a second consecutive monthly drop in demand for manufactured goods.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 39.81 points, or 0.4%, down at 10,497.88.
Boeing was the biggest drag on the Dow, shedding 1.6% after its second-quarter profit fall 21% amid weaker revenue in both its aviation and defence businesses. The results beat profit expectations but missed on revenue.
The S&P 500-stock index declined 0.7% to 1106.13 while the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.0% at 2264.56.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stocks closed marginally lower in a lacklustre session.
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The pan-European Stoxx 600 index ended down 0.3% at 257.21. The UK's FTSE 100 closed down 0.9% at 5319.68, and Germany's DAX fell 0.5% to 6178.94. But France's CAC-40 managed to eke a small gain, closing up 0.1% at 3670.36.
Most Asian stock markets rose, with the Tokyo market charging ahead on a solid earnings report from Canon, which put some extra gloss on the outlook for Japanese exporters.
Chinese stocks also jumped, after the central bank said there was little risk of a "double dip" recession.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average surged 2.7% to 9753.27 and China's Shanghai Composite climbed 2.3% to 2633.66. Gains were smaller in other markets, with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.7% to 4529.94, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 0.6% to 21091.18 and Korea's Kospi closing up 0.3% at 1773.47.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
US crude inventories showed a big buildup last week, bucking analysts' expectations for a modest drop. Stockpiles expanded by 7.3 million barrels to 360.8 million barrels for the week ending July 23. That compares with an average survey estimate of a 1.7-million-barrel drop.
In New York, September crude oil futures settled 51USc down, or 0.7%, at $US76.99 a barrel, deepening earlier losses. Brent crude on the ICE was down 7USc at $US76.06.
Gold futures firmed after a sharp selloff the previous session.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, was up 60USc at $US1162.40 an ounce in New York. July gold was up $US2.40 or 0.2% to $US1160.40.
Currencies: Dollar down, yen up
The US dollar weakened against the yen after another piece of disappointing economic news led to fresh worries that the pace of the US recovery was losing steam.
The euro was at $US1.2994, compared with $US1.3003 late on Tuesday. The dollar moved to ¥87.64 from ¥87.96. The euro weakened to ¥113.88 from ¥114.37. The UK pound strengthened to $US1.5613 from $US1.5593.
