Wall Street falls back to earth

Stocks on Wall Street fell as investors opted for caution one day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched its biggest gain of the year.

At the close (8am NZ time), the Dow was down 15.21 points, or 0.1%, to 12,572.21, after bobbing between positive and negative territory for much of the day. Bank of America rose 4.4%, a day after reporting its third loss in four quarters. 

United Technologies slumped 1.9%,  while IBM fell 0.6% a day after hitting a record high on strong earnings results. Microsoft lost 1.5%.

The Dow surged 202 points on Tuesday, the biggest gain since December.

The S&P 500 index moved less than a point to finish at 1325.87, as consumer-discretionary and technology stocks lagged. Apple rose 3% after the company more than doubled its quarterly earnings and reported higher revenue on strong iPhone and iPad sales.

But Apple's results weren't enough to lift the Nasdaq Composite, which was down 0.4% at 2814.23.

Other markets: Europe, Asia recover
European stocks rose sharply as recently beaten-down banks rallied and heavyweight BP rose.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 1.3% to close at 267.73, after a gain of 0.8% in the prior session. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 1.1% to 5853.82. In Frankfurt, the DAX increased 0.4% to 7221.36 and in Paris the CAC-40 surged 1.6% to 3754.60.

Asian markets advanced with technology stocks leading the charge.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 1.2% higher at 10,005.90 and Taiwan’s Taiex finished at 8706.19, surging 2.1% for its best percentage gain since September 13.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 1.8% at 4549.70 and Korea’s Kospi gained 1.2% to 2154.95.

But China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.1% to 2794.20 after a higher opening, as property developers and banks dropped amid worries about slowing economic growth and high inflation.

Hong Kong’s gains were capped by that, as well as by a 3.2% fall in shares of Cnooc after it announced a $US2.1 billion acquisition of OPTI Canada. The Hang Seng Index finished 0.5% higher at 22,003.69.
 

Commodities: Oil rises, gold slips below $US1600
Oil futures held on to early gains after a report said US oil inventories fell more than expected last week.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery was up 64USc, or 0.7%, to settle at $US98.14 a barrel in New York. September Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe exchange rose $US1.22, or 1%, to $US118.28 a barrel.

Gold futures slid below $US1600 an ounce as progress toward a US debt deal and a more upbeat outlook for risky assets sapped investor demand for the metal as a refuge.

The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, settled down $U4.20, or 0.3%, at $US1596.90 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Euro struggles at $US1.42
The euro struggled to maintain the $US1.42 level, and the dollar was down, as investors curbed their expectations on breakthroughs for both Greece aid talks and US debt-ceiling negotiations.

The euro was at $US1.4201 compared with $US1.4153 late on Tuesday. The dollar was at ¥78.75 from ¥79.18, while the euro was at ¥111.83 compared with ¥112.06.

The pound traded at $UK1.6142 from $UK1.6124, while the dollar bought 0.8202 Swiss franc from 0.8242 franc.