Wall Street slides on disappointing data

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.