Stocks on Wall Street fall as inflation bites

Stocks on Wall Street other than the technology sector fell on weaker-than-expected corporate earnings that highlighted the impact of rising costs.

Metals futures continued to climb with gold reaching a fresh record as the dollar weakened. However, crude-oil futures slipped below $US112 a barrel, reversing gains from earlier in the session.

Kimberly-Clark fell 3% after first-quarter earnings were down 8.9%, missing analysts' expectations. The company said rising prices for key raw materials more than offset benefits of volume growth and currency fluctuations.

Technology stocks were buoyed by a stronger-than-expected earnings report from SanDisk, a flash-memory device maker. Its shares rose 2.3%, boosting others in the sector.

At the close (8am NZT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 26.11 points, or 0.2%, at 12,479.88 on the four-year anniversary of the first time the Dow topped 13,000.

The S&P 500 index was down 0.1%, to 1335.25 while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2% to 2825.88.

Asian markets mostly fall
Chinese stocks fell in response to concern Beijing may continue to tighten its monetary policy, while Japanese shares gave up early gains.

China's Shanghai Composite fell 1.5% to end at 2964.95, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged down 0.1% to 9671.96 and Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.2% to 8950.75. South

Korea's Kospi gained 0.8% to 2216.00 and India's Sensex slipped 0.1% to 19584.31.

Commodities: Gold stays above $US1500
Gold’s June contract was up $US7.70, or 0.5%, at $US1511.50 an ounce after hitting a record intraday peak of $US1519.20. April gold was up $US6.70, or 0.5%, at $US1509.90 after hitting its own intraday record $US1518.00.

Silver futures pared large gains as participants cashed in on record-high prices. The most actively traded silver contract, for May delivery, was up $US1.651, or 3.6%, at $US47.710 an ounce after touching a record $US49.820.

Oil futures turned lower, as the dollar recouped its losses and traders looked to lock in profits after prices earlier breached 2½-year highs.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery was down 37USc, or 0.3%, to $US111.93 a barrel. The contract previously hit an intraday high of $US113.48, the highest trade since September 22, 2008. The May contract was down 57USc, or 0.5%, at $US111.72 a barrel.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange fell 56USc, or 0.5%, to $US123.43 a barrel.

Currencies: US dollar recovers
The US dollar recovered as traders took profits ahead of this week's US Federal Reserve meeting and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's first-ever post policy meeting news conference.

The euro was at $1.4547 compared with $1.4548 before Easter. The dollar was at ¥81.96 from ¥81.91.

The UK pound bought $US1.6486 from $US1.6516, while the dollar was at 0.8811 Swiss franc from 0.8857 franc.