Wall Street slump continues

Stocks on Wall Street dropped for a second day as second quarter US domestic growth was revised downward.

The Commerce Department reported its second estimate of GDP growth was an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 2.0% in the July-to-September period, lower than the advance estimate of 2.5%.

A big downward revision to inventory investment dragged down the GDP number, while corporate profits notched steady gains.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average WAS down 53.59 points, or 0.5%, to 11,493.72 at the close (10am NZ Time). That followed a drop of 249 points on Monday and a loss of more than 5% in the past five trading days.

The S&P 500 index was down 0.4% at 1188.03. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1% at 2521.28.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed
European markets reversed early gains and edged lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 dropping 0.5% and adding to the 5.2% decline over the previous three sessions.

Investors fretted over rising yields in a Spanish bill auction. The average yield on three-month bills rose to 5.11% from 2.292% at a previous auction on October 25. That was above the yield offered by Greece paid at its last three-month auction a week ago.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was 0.7% lower at 223.27. London's FTSE 100 was 0.3% lower at 5206.82, Frankfurt's DAX was down 1.2% at 5537.39 and Paris' CAC-40 was down 0.8% at 2870.68.

Asian stock markets ended off their lows, with Hong Kong and Seoul closing with gains.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average declined 0.4% to 8314.74, the Australian S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7% to 4133.00 and the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.1% to 2412.63.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index recovered from midday losses to end 0.1% higher at 18,251.59. Korea's Kospi also rebounded to finish with a 0.3% rise to 1826.28. India's Sensex climbed 0.8% to 16,065.42.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Oil prices gained on fears of that major supplier Iran would cut its crude sales after the US issued new sanctions against Tehran.

Light, sweet crude futures for January delivery was up 60USc, or 0.6%, to $US97.52 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange was up $US1.02, or 1%, to $US107.90.

Gold futures rose as a weaker US dollar drew buyers back to the precious metal.

The contract for November delivery rose $US23.90, or 1.4%, to settle at $US1,702.20 an ounce in New York.

Futures on Monday settled below $US1700 for the first time since late October, as investors moved to cash.

Currencies: US dollar falls against euro
The US dollar lost ground against the euro, but gained against the yen.

The euro headed back toward the day's highs against the dollar after the IMF unveiled more tools to improve liquidity and financing needs for its members, a move seen as aimed at stemming contagion of Europe's debt crisis.

The euro was at $US1.3515 compared with $US1.3490 late on Monday. The dollar was at ¥76.99, compared with ¥76.89, while the euro was at ¥104.05 compared with ¥103.75.

The UK pound was at $US1.5640 from $US1.5641, while the dollar bought 0.9143 Swiss franc from 0.9175 franc.