US stocks await next moves in Europe

Stocks on Wall Street held their gains ahead of the European leaders’ summit that is expected to advance progress in tackling the sovereign-debt crisis.

At the close (10am NZtime), the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up along with the broader index, though technology stocks fell.

Investors remained cautious after the latest chapter in the long-running euro-zone debt crisis. In a surprise move, Standard & Poor’s put France, Germany and 13 other euro-zone nations on review for credit downgrades.

The Dow was up 52.30 points, or 0.4%, to 12,150.13. It finished up 78 points on Monday after rising as much as 167 points, part of a 7.8% surge over the past six trading days.

3M gained 1.6% after forecasting higher than expected earnings and sales for its upcoming fiscal year. General Electric climbed 2.1% and Pfizer rose 2.4%.

The S&P 500 index moved up 0.1% to 1258.47. Energy and consumer discretionary stocks weighed on the index, while healthcare shares rose.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2% to 2649.56.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed
European stock markets finished lower as investors dealt with the threat of mass downgrades in Europe.

S&P put 15 euro-zone countries on negative credit watch, including the six triple-A-rated governments of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Luxembourg.

S&P also placed the long-term credit rating of the European Financial Stability Facility on credit watch negative.

Stock markets finished off session lows on expectations that EU leaders will come together to whack out a plan Friday that could restore the markets' faith in the euro zone.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 0.3% to 241.92 but was off earlier lows of 240.04. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index finished nearly flat at 5568.72, France's CAC-40 index fell 0.7% to 3179.63 and Germany's DAX lost 1.3% to 6028.82.

Asian shares finished lower Tuesday, with investors unsettled after Standard & Poor's warned of possible ratings downgrades for much of the euro zone.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.2% to 18942.23, while the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.3% to 2325.90.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropped 1.4% to 8575.16, South Korea's Kospi retreated 1% to 1902.82, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.4% to 4262.00. India was closed for a holiday.

Commodities: Oil up, gold down
Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled up 29USc, or 0.3%, to $US101.28 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up $US1, or 0.9%, to $US110.81 a barrel.

Gold and other precious metals fell with investors were more interested in holding cash.

The contract for December delivery settled down $US2.80, or 0.2%, at $US1727.90 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Euro falls
The euro drifted lower on the credit downgrade moves in Europe.

The euro was at $US1.3393 from $US1.3401 late on Monday. The euro was at ¥104.10 from ¥104.28.

The US dollar traded at ¥77.73 from ¥77.83 and bought 0.927 franc from 0.9204 franc. The UK pound was at $US1.5578 from $US1.5649.