Wall Street trims losses (UPDATED)

Stocks on Wall Street erased earlier losses but struggled to make gains amid reports that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was expected to step down before the trading session ended.

The president's broadcast to the nation, which ended as the NYSE bell rang, was inconclusive about his future and gave investors no leads as to whether he will hand over his powers.

Stocks were lower in the morning despite better-than-expected jobless-claims, dragged down by technology bellwether Cisco Systems' disappointing earnings report and weakness in the consumer sector.

At the close (10am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 10.60 points, or 0.1%, at 12,129.29, ending an eight-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 index finished almost even, moving less than a point up to 1321.87, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose just 1.38 points to 2790.87.

Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European stocks fell, dragged lower by a profit warning and dividend cancellation by Credit Suisse and disappointing earnings from Diageo.

Even a strong rise by Deutsche Boerse after it confirmed it is in merger talks with NYSE Euronext failed to buoy the broader market.

London's FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 5999.78, Frankfurt's DAX declined 0.4% to 7288.13 and Paris' CAC-40 was 0.9% lower at 4053.79.

Asian stock markets were mostly lower as Hong Kong slid on concerns about Chinese policy tightening and amid a selloff in energy stocks after recent declines in crude-oil prices.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 2% to 22,708.62, the Nikkei Stock Average edged down 0.1% to 10605.65, Korea's Kospi fell 1.8% to 2008.50, Taiwan's Taiex slid 1.9% to 8836.56, and Mumbai's Sensex fell 0.7% to 17,463.04.

Running against the trend, China’s Shanghai Composite Index rebounded 1.6% to 2818.16, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.2% to 4914.43.

Commodities: Oil up, gold down
Crude futures turned higher, spiking briefly toward $US88 a barrel in New York on latest developments in Egypt.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery traded 31USc, or 0.4%, higher at $US87.04 a barrel after rising as high as $US87.77 earlier in the session.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 63USc lower at $US101.19 a barrel.

A stronger dollar forced gold prices to retreat from recent highs.

The thinly traded February-delivery contract was down 0.9%, or $US12.60, at $US1352.20 an ounce in New York. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, was down 0.9%, or $US11.70, at $US1353.80 an ounce.