Stocks on Wall Street shook off the effects of fraud charges laid against Goldman Sachs while weighing the costs of the five-day aircraft grounding in Europe.Airline stocks around the world slumped, with estimates of losses as high as $1US billion so far.
Stocks on Wall Street shook off the effects of fraud charges laid against Goldman Sachs while weighing the costs of the five-day aircraft grounding in Europe.
Airline stocks around the world slumped, with estimates of losses as high as $1US billion so far. All areas of Europe except some northern countries are now open to flights, though it is expected it will take several days before aviation services get back to normal.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fluctuated between small gains and losses throughout the morning, finished 73.39 points at 11,092.05, after being down 43 points earlier.
Alcoa was the Dow's worst performer, off 2.4%, as it was hurt by slumping metals prices.
But the banking sector was stronger, with Citigroup jumping 6% after it reported a $US4.4 billion first-quarter profit – more than double the level of a year earlier.
Among airline stocks, UAL Corp. tumbled 45%, US Airways fell 2.2%, Continental Airlines slipped 2.8% and Delta Air Lines fell 1.8%.
The S&P 500 index edged up 0.45% to 1197.52 with the materials and energy sectors down as crude oil and other commodities futures declined.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down less than 0.1% at 2480.11with Palm plunging 11% after Morgan Keegan cut its investment rating on the stock to "underperform."
Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European markets ended lower with banking and airline shares being the worst performers.
British Airways slid 1.4%, while those of Deutsche Lufthansa slipped 2.6% and Air-France-KLM fell 2.9%.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index lost 0.6% at 266.13. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.3% at 5727.91. France's CAC-40 fell 0.4% to 3970.47 and Germany's DAX shed 0.3% at 6162.44.
In Asia, China stocks skidded in their biggest drop of the year, taking other Asian markets with them, as investors reacted to fears that government action to cool the volatile property sector will slow economic growth.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 4.8% to 2980.30, below the symbolically important 3000 level. It was the biggest drop in mainland China's benchmark index since August 31 and it is now down 9% this year.
Japan's Nikkei Average index fell 1.7% to 10,908.77, while Hong Kong's fell 2.1% to 21,405.17.
Taiwan's Taiex tumbled 3.2% to 7854.22, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.4% to 4915.07, Korea's Kospi finished 1.7% lower to 1705.30 and India's Sensex shrank 1.1% to 17400.68.
Singapore's Straits Times Index dropped 1.5% to 2960.93, Thailand's SET Index shed 1.3% to 726.29 and Indonesia's JSX gave up 1.7% to 2840.43.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Oil futures fell to a three-week low. Light, sweet crude for May delivery slid $US1.79, or 2.2%, to settle at $US81.45 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell $US1.76, or 2.1%, to $US84.23 a barrel.
Gold futures were slightly lower, though prices recovered from their weakest levels as some investors used the price retreat as a buying opportunity.
The most-active June contract settled $US1.10 lower at $US1135.80 an ounce in New York. April gold fell $US1.10, or 0.1%, to $US1135.20.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The dollar strengthened against its rivals, as lingering concerns over Greek debt and worries over the implications of the US case against Goldman Sachs for broader markets led investors to the safety of the greenback.
Concern over China putting a brake on growth added to negative market sentiment, sending global stock markets lower, but when U.S. stocks wavered between the up and downside the dollar pared some of its gains.
The euro weakened to $US1.3471 from $US1.3510 late on Friday.
The dollar was flat at ¥92.38 from ¥92.12.
The euro weakened to ¥124.45 from ¥124.46. The UK pound weakened to $US1.5303 from $US1.5392.
