Wall Street slips after strong rally

Stocks on Wall Street slipped in the first day’s trading since the best weekly gain in two years.

Investors were cautious ahead of the start of the corporate earnings season, which unofficially kicks off next week when Dow component Alcoa reports its quarterly results next Monday.

On the economic front, orders for US factory goods climbed 0.8% in May, confirming a favourable report on durable-goods orders a few weeks ago and signals that manufacturing is ramping up.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 12.83 points, or 0.1%, to 12,569.94 at the close (8am NZ time). Hewlett-Packard was the biggest decliner, falling 1.8%, while Bank of America fell 1.2%. Meanwhile, Chevron helped keep the declines in check, rising 1.3%.

The S&P 500 index was down 0.1% to 1337.88, as financial and utility stocks lagged, while energy and consumer staples rose. Against the trend, the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.35% to 2825.77.

Other markets: Europe falls, Asia mixed
European stocks markets finished largely flat with the Stoxx Europe 600 index closing slightly higher at 275.62. The UK's FTSE 100 index added 0.1% to 6024.03, France's CAC-40 index fell 0.6% to 3978.83 and Germany's DAX ended fractionally lower at 7439.44.

Asian stock markets ended mixed as investors speculated that China might soon raise interest rates.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1% to 2816.35 after a choppy session while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.1% to 22747.95.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged up 0.1% to 9972.46, enough for its sixth consecutive gain and its highest close in two months.

Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2161.75, its fifth straight increase, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index dropped 0.3% to 4598.10.

India's Sensex fell 0.4% to 18744.56. Thailand's SET, after surging Monday in a post-election rally, slipped 0.5% to 1084.59.

Commodities: Oil, gold rise
Crude futures moved higher, pushing toward $US97 a barrel as investors look for hints in economic data that oil demand may be set to improve.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery traded $US1.96 higher at $US96.90 a barrel in New York, after rising as high as $US97. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.85 higher at $US113.24 a barrel.

Gold futures reclaimed $US1500 an ounce as traders viewed Friday's slide to six-week lows as an opportunity to buy.

The most actively traded contract, for July delivery, was up $US26.30, or 1.8%, at $US1,508.60 in New York.

Currencies: Portugal downgrade knocks euro
The euro extended its losses after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Portugal's credit rating by four notches and into junk status.

The rating was cut because of worries Portugal might need a second round of financing and that it might not be able to meet deficit reduction targets.

The euro was at $US1.4459 from about $US1.4488 just before the report was released. It traded at $US1.4539 late on Monday.

The US dollar was broadly higher and the Swiss franc also gained.

The UK pound was also a climber after surprisingly positive service-sector data.

The dollar was at ¥81.11 compared with ¥80.79, while the euro traded at ¥117.05 from ¥117.47. The pound was at $US1.60871 compared with $1.6082, and the dollar bought 0.8412 franc from 0.8481 franc.