Stocks retreat on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street ended a four-day rally, led lower by financial stocks and despite a stronger-than-expected reading on manufacturing activity.

The Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity in the US continued to grow in August. The rate of growth, while the slowest since July 2009, was better than economists had expected.

At the close (8am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 119.96 points, or 1.0%, to 11,493.57. The index swung from early losses to a triple-digit gain before falling again in another volatile session.

The S&P 500 index was down 1.2% to 1204.42, led lower by financial and industrial stocks. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.3% to 2546.0.

Other markets: Europe mixed, Asia up
European stock markets rose on stronger-than-expected US manufacturing data, cushioned by a weaker-than-expected manufacturing report from the euro zone.

UK banks led the gains on hopes that major domestic reforms to the industry will be delayed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.6% to 238.93. The UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.4% at 5418.65, France's CAC-40 index rose 0.3% to 3265.83 but Germany's DAX index shed 0.9% to 5730.63.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher, with sentiment supported by signs of an improvement in Chinese and US manufacturing data.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3%, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average advanced 1.2%, Korea's Kospi traded flat, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.3%.

Bucking the trend, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.4%. Indian markets were closed for a holiday.

Commodities: Oil steady, gold down
Crude-oil futures were little changed after mixed US economic data. Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery was 3USc higher at $US88.85 a barrel in New York. ICE October Brent crude was 19USc lower at $US111.66 a barrel.

Gold futures fell, adding to earlier losses. The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell $US9.80, or 0.5%, to $US1821.90 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Euro falls
The euro was down about 1% against the US dollar and at session lows against the yen and the Swiss franc.

The euro was $US1.4283 from $US1.4372 late on Wednesday. The US dollar fell to 0.7938 franc, from 0.8059 franc, and the euro was at 1.1335 franc from 1.1582 franc.

The dollar was at ¥76.79 compared with ¥76.66, while the euro was at ¥109.68 compared with ¥110.22.

The UK pound fetched $US1.6180 compared with $US1.6250.