Blue chip stocks on Wall Street rose as investors reacted positively to better-than-expected retail sales ahead of the annual Christmas holiday shopping season.But after a bullish start the wider sharemarket lost momentum, with the broader indexes in the
Blue chip stocks on Wall Street rose as investors reacted positively to better-than-expected retail sales ahead of the annual Christmas holiday shopping season.
But after a bullish start the wider sharemarket lost momentum, with the broader indexes in the red at the close (10am NZ time).
Retail turnover surged in October topped expectations on robust car sales and solid spending for a broad array of merchandise. It was the fourth consecutive increase and the biggest rise since March.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 9.30 points, or 0.1% up at 11,201.97.
Caterpillar led the measure's gains with a 2.6% jump after saying it will buy mining-equipment company Bucyrus International for about $US7.6 billion.
Under the agreement, Caterpillar will pay a 32% premium to Friday's closing price. Shares of Bucyrus, which isn't a Dow stock, surged 29%.
The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2% to 2513.82 and the S&P 500 index shed 0.3% to 1197.75.
Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks recovered from early losses to end higher as investors put fears over Ireland to one side and focused instead on upbeat euro-zone and US economic data and a pick-up in takeover activity.
The Irish crisis deepened even as officials denied European leaders were urging acceptance of a bailout from the European Union's emergency loan fund.
Meanwhile, the euro bloc had a greater-than-anticipated combined surplus in their trade in goods of €2.9 billion ($5 billion), against expectations of a €600 million surplus.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 0.8% at 272.36. The UK's FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 5820.41, France's CAC-40 index ended 0.9% higher at 3864.24 and Ireland's ISEQ index rose 0.8% to 2697.05.
Germany's DAX added 0.8% to 6790.17, its highest close since June 17, 2008.
Asian stocks ended mixed, with better-than-expected economic growth data helping lift stocks in Japan. Investors in China shrugged off concerns over further tightening measures from Beijing.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 1.1% to 9827.51, China's Shanghai Composite rose 1% to 28,332.93, India's Sensex edged up 0.8% to 20,309.69 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.8% to 24,027.18.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil prices finished flat. Light, sweet crude for December delivery settled 2USc down at $US84.86 a barrel in New York.
Gold rose modestly as the dollar strengthened against the euro. The most actively traded gold futures contract, for December delivery, settled up 0.2%, or $US3, at $US1368.50 an ounce in New York.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The euro dropped against the dollar as concerns continued over the long-simmering crisis of sovereign debt in the euro-zone periphery.
The euro was at $US1.3600 from $US1.3693 late on Friday. The dollar was at ¥82.92 from ¥82.44.
The euro was at ¥112.75 from ¥112.86. The UK pound was at $US1.6055 from $US1.6136 and the dollar was at 0.9855 Swiss franc from 0.9803 franc.
