Dow finds 12,000 too elusive (UPDATED)

Stocks on Wall Street bumped up against key index milestones for a second day and show little inclination to rise higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average darted above 12,000, only to pull back. At the close (10am NZ time), the measure was up 4.39 points to 11,989.83 after mixed news on both the corporate and economic fronts. The Dow hasn't closed above 12,000 since June 19, 2008.

The S&P 500 index flickered over 1300 but finished at 1299.54, up 0.2%. The last time it closed above 1300 was on August 28, 2008. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.6% to 2755.28.

Procter & Gamble sank 3.5% after its fiscal second-quarter profit slid 28% as margins were narrowed by rising commodity costs. Colgate-Palmolive shed 2.5% after its fourth-quarter earnings fell 1.1% on lower-than-expected revenue. AT&T fell 2.9%, hurt by a steep decline in the number of net new customers.

A better-than-expected reading of pending sales of existing homes, coupled with a surprisingly large jump in jobless claims, hasn't added clarity to the economic outlook.

Orders for durable goods fell and a reading of manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's district slowed sharply in January.

Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European shares edged higher as miners and some financial stocks gained ground, though retailers fell after disappointing results from Swedish fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.2% to 282.88. The UK FTSE 100 index ended a volatile session down 0.1% at 5965.08, the French CAC 40 rose 0.3% to 4059.57 and the German DAX 30 climbed 0.4% to 7155.58.

Most Asian markets climbed, paced by the Shanghai Composite, which advanced 1.5% to 2749.15.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.3% to 23779.62. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7% to 10,478.66 as expectations mounted for strong earnings reports. Weakness in the yen against the euro added support.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 ended little changed at 4806.09. Engineering group Downer EDI tumbled 20.1% after announcing a $A250 million write-down on a train-building contract for NSW. This was on top of a $A190 million provision on the same contract in June last year.

Korea's Kospi index rose 0.2% to 2115.01, Singapore's Straits Times index was marginally lower at 3219.83 and in India, the Mumbai Sensitive Index dropped 1.5% to 18,684.43.

Commodities: Oil up/down, gold up
The gulf between two most widely used oil benchmarks soared to a new record, as rising inventories held back the US contract while the European benchmark raced past $98 a barrel.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 33USc, or 0.4%, at $US87.00 a barrel in New York, while in London the Brent crude on the ICE exchange rose 39USc, or 0.4%, at $US98.28 a barrel.

The gap of more than $US11 between the two contracts is the widest ever. The growing spread has raised questions about whether the Nymex contract, West Texas Intermediate crude, remains an accurate reflection of conditions in the oil market.

Gold futures rose slightly as weaker-than-forecast US durable goods orders and jobless claims boosted expectations that monetary policy will remain easy for longer.

The most actively traded gold contract, for February delivery, was up $US2.30, or 0.2%, at $US1335.30 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Dollar up, yen down
The US dollar rose above ¥83 on the heels of a downgrade to Japan's sovereign credit rating.

The euro surrendered the two-month high it hit against the dollar earlier in the global day to trade essentially unchanged.

The move to the perceived safety of the dollar helped the greenback recover from an earlier tick downward after a round of disappointing US economic data.

The dollar was at ¥83.03, from ¥82.30 and the euro was at $US1.3690, essentially unchanged from late on Wednesday, when it traded at $US1.3691.