Wall Street rebounds as oil tops $US100

Stocks on Wall Street edged higher a day after a sharp fall, though rising crude oil prices at more than $100 a barrel continued to spook investors.

Oil futures for April delivery settled at $US102 a barrel in New York – the first above $US100 in two years – while Brent crude oil, traded in London, rose above $US116 a barrel. Gold futures hit an all-time high at more than $US1438 an ounce.

Stock markets across the Middle East continued their aggressive sell-off and anything relatively upbeat in terms of economic data or corporate results was overlooked. Saudi Arabia's benchmark TASI index fell 5% and Dubai's DFM stock index declined 3.5%.

Investors are closely watching the situation in Libya, where pro-Gaddafi forces are threatening the oil-refinery city of Brega and have staged air strikes near the city of Ajdabiya, which is held by rebels and contains a huge arms depot.

At the close (10am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 8.78 points, less than 0.1%, to 12,066.80. The S&P 500 index was up 0.2% to 1308.44 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 2748.07.

On Tuesday, the Dow slumped 1.4% on worries that sustained increases in oil prices threaten global economic growth.

Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European stocks traded markedly lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 0.9% to 283.15, led by weakness across the mining and financial sectors.

France's CAC 40 index lost 0.9% to 4028.53, in Germany, the DAX 30 index sank 0.8% to 7176.82, led by a decline for auto firms, and the UK's FTSE 100 index lost 0.4% to 5913.23, led by a 3.6% fall for Whitbread.

Asian stock markets slid with Japanese shares registering their biggest fall of the year. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.4% to 10,492.38, its biggest percentage loss since August 31 and its first loss in four sessions.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.5% to 23,048.66, also breaking a three-day wining streak, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.5% to 4803.21.

China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to 2913.81. Korea's Kospi gave up 0.6% to 1928.24, its lowest close since November 30, and Taiwan's Taiex shed 1.2% to 8619.90.

Indian markets were closed for a holiday.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil futures rose above $US102 a barrel as fighting raged in Libya and the International Energy Agency said the conflict had shut down more oil production than originally forecast.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $US2.60, or 2.6%, up at $US102.23 a barrel in New York, the highest settlement since September 26, 2008. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled $US1.24, or 1.2%, up at $US116.66 a barrel.

Gold futures hit an all-time high and silver notched a 30-year peak as fears about inflation persisted. The most-actively traded gold contract, for April delivery, settled up $US6.50, or 0.5%, at $US1437.70 an ounce after hitting a record intraday high of $US1438.20 in New York.

Currencies: Dollar down, pound up
The US dollar plunged as traders pushed it to recent lows against three rival European currencies based on rate increase expectations from Europe's central banks.

The euro set a new four-month high and sterling rose to its highest level since January 2010, pushed up by the increasing possibility of higher UK interest rates in the wake of improving domestic data.

The dollar fell to a record low against the safe-haven Swiss franc as prospects intensified of civil war disrupting Libyan oil supplies for longer than expected.

The euro was at $US1.3872, compared with $US1.3770 late on Tuesday in New York. The dollar was at ¥81.64, down from ¥81.92.

The pound rose to $US1.6322 from $US1.6256 after strong UK. The dollar traded at 0.9215 Swiss franc, from the old record of 0.9229 franc and 0.9296 franc late on Tuesday.