Wall Street falls as retail sales disappoint

Stocks on Wall Street dropped on a lower-than-expected rise in US retail sales and a bigger-than-expected increase in US import prices.

Retail sales rose just 0.3% in January, smaller than the 0.6% rise economists had expected. Import prices rose much more than expected in January as costs increased for energy, food and industrial supplies.

Oil shares fell, with Chevron shedding 1% after a judge in Ecuador ordered a $US8.6 billion payout to clean up rainforest oil pollution in what is believed to be the largest-ever judgment in an environmental case.

Exxon Mobil dropped 2.4% after it added 3.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent to its proved reserves, sparking worries that higher inventories could weigh on oil prices.

At the close (10am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 41.55 points, or 0.3%, to 12,226.64.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to 2804.35 and the S&P 500 index declined 0.3% to 1328.02, led lower by its energy sector.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% to 289.11. A surge in Chinese copper imports, which reached a four-month high in January, helped to underpin the mood and sent the Stoxx Europe 600 resources index up 1.6%.

The UK's FTSE 100 index closed flat at 6060.09, France's CAC-40 index slipped 0.1% to 4096.62, while Germany's DAX index rose 0.3% to 7396.63.

Asian markets ended mixed, with Japanese and Taiwanese stocks rising on relief over milder-than-feared inflation data from China, while Hong Kong shares retreated amid worries that price pressures on the mainland will remain at elevated levels.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.2% to 10,746.67, Taiwan's Taiex added 0.4% 8721.93 and India's Sensex climbed 2.7% to 18,202.20.

Going the other way, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 1% to 22,899.78, Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2% to 2010.52 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.1% to 4931.03.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Oil futures in New York fell to their lowest in two and a half months as suuply concerns over-rode fears of spreading popular unrest in the Middle East.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 49USc, or 0.6%, to $US84.32. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange pulled back from overnight highs above $US104 a barrel, dropping $US1.44, or 1.4%, to $US101.64.

Gold futures rose as the UK's annual rate of inflation rose to 4.0% in January, from 3.7% in December, double the Bank of England's target.

The thinly traded February-delivery contract was up 0.8%, or $US10.80, at $US1375.40 an ounce in New York. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, was up 0.8%, or $US10.70, at $US1375.80.

Currencies: Dollar up, yen down
The US dollar rose against the yen to its highest level in nearly two months, as investors shrugged off disappointing US retail sales and held to the view that the US economy was still expanding at a fairly brisk clip.

The higher-yielding euro and UK pound both rose slightly.

The dollar was trading at ¥83.75 from ¥83.31 late on Monday. The euro was at $US1.3498 from $US1.3487 and sterling was at $US1.6142 from $US1.6039.