Wall Street slides on disappointing data
US factory orders came in slightly under forecasts of a 1.5% rise.
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Stocks on Wall Street have retreated after US factory orders came in slightly under forecasts.
The February data fell just short of economists’ expectations of a 1.5% rise, while January orders were revised to a 1.1% loss from a previously reported 1.0% fall,
Energy and financial stocks led the market lower. Bank of America was down 1.7%, Exxon Mobil was down 1.6% and Microsoft fell 1.3%.
Apple climbed 1.8% after analysts at Piper Jaffray predicted the stock would reach $US1000 in 2014 and become the first company ever to have a $US1 trillion market capitalisation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 45 points, or 0.3%, to 13,219 in early afternoon trading. The Dow closed on Monday at its highest level since December 2007.
The S&P 500 index is down 0.4% to 1414 and the Nasdaq Composite is off 0.1% at 3117.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European stocks finished lower, as concerns about the fiscal situation in Spain and Italy rattled markets.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended down 1.1%, at 264.29.
The UK's FTSE 100 index fell 0.6% to 5838.34 and Germany's DAX index shed 1%, to 6982.28, while France's CAC-40 index finished down 1.6%, to 3406.78.
Asian stock markets ended mostly higher, with Hong Kong stocks rebounding after a four-day losing streak. Japanese stocks declined on a strengthened yen.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.3% to 20,790.98 and Korea's Kospi rose 1% to 2049.28.
The S&P/ASX 200 index ended 0.2% higher at 4337.0, coming off the day's highs after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its benchmark interest rates unchanged.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6% to 10,050.39, while Taiwan's Taiex gave up 1.3% to 7760.85 on worries the government may propose a capital gains tax.
Markets in China were closed for holidays.
Indian shares gained for the third straight session. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index rose 119.27 points, or 0.7%, to close at 17597.42.
Crude-oil prices shed 0.5%, to $US104.71 a barrel, while gold prices eased 0.2%, to $US1676.20 an ounce.
The US dollar inched lower against the euro but rose against the yen.
Nevil Gibson
Wed, 04 Apr 2012
Wed, 04 Apr 2012
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Wall Street slides on disappointing data
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