Energy stocks weigh on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street failed to hold gains as weaker US energy demand clawed back advances made earlier in the session.

At the close (8am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just 1.06 point to 11,952.97.

Alcoa shed 1.9% and Caterpillar lost 1.5% to lead blue-chip decliners. Chevron fell 1.2% and Exxon Mobil declined 0.7% as the price of oil slid below $US97 a barrel.

The Nasdaq Composite shed 0.15% to 2639.69 while the S&P 500 was up 0.07% at 1271.83.

Other markets: Europe rises, Asia mainly lower
European stocks eked out small gains in holiday-thinned trade.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.2% at 268.71, only its second gain in the past nine sessions, in a day in which many traders were away for the Whit Monday holiday.

The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5773.46, France's CAC-40 index edged up 0.1% at 3807.61 and Germany's DAX added 0.2% to 7085.14.
A persistently strong yen pushed Japanese stocks lower but Hong Kong ended a seven-session losing streak, staging a late-day turnaround as banking shares rebounded.

The Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.7% to 9448.21.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, down more than 1% during the day, surged to end 0.4% higher at 22,508.08.

Korea's Kospi edged up 0.1% to 2048.74 and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to 2700.38 – though earlier it had been down as much as 1.1%.

Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.6% to 3059.04, Taiwan's Taiex fell 1.4% to 8712.95 and India's Sensex ended nearly unchanged at 18,266.03.

Markets in Australia were closed for a public holiday.

Commodities: Oil down, gold eases
Crude futures prices fell further on concerns over weak US oil demand. Traders said many investors also appeared to have been taking funds out of the light, sweet crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange and switching into ICE Brent crude.

The has pushed the smaller Brent futures up sharply, widening the price gap to a record $US21.60 a barrel.

Nymex July crude settled down $US1.99 at $US97.30 while Brent was up 32USc to $119.10 a barrel.

Gold futures eased as the holiday-affected currency markets have failed to provide any direction.

The contract for June delivery was down $US3.30, or 0.2%, at $US1525.30 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Swiss franc advances
The Swiss franc has been the major beneficiary as traders avoided riskier currencies and the US dollar, which are affected by signs of a slowing global economy.

The euro traded in a narrow range against the dollar in choppy trade, with several European markets closed for a holiday.

The euro remained under pressure against the Swiss franc, after falling to a fresh record low at 1.2004 franc. The dollar also fell against the franc, to 0.8376 from 0.8434 late on Friday.

The dollar was at ¥80.19 compared with ¥80.30 late on Friday. The euro traded at $US1.4413 from $US1.4348 and at ¥115.58 compared with ¥115.23.

The UK pound bought $US1.6371 from $US1.6230 late on Friday.