A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks wavered in opening trade as Wall Street awaited the unofficial kickoff of the fourth-quarter earnings season after the markets close.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 5.64 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 12,354.28 in the first 15 minutes of trade on Monday.
The S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, edged down 0.53 point, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,277.28.
The tech-dominated Nasdaq Composite resisted the downturn, adding 1.32 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 2,675.54.
Aluminium giant Alcoa is slated to be the first of the Dow’s 30 blue-chip stocks to report quarterly earnings.
On Friday, equity markets closed mixed after the unemployment rate fell for the fourth straight month in December but worries continued over Europe’s public debt crisis.
The Dow dropped 0.5 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.2 per cent.
LONDON – European stock markets fell on Monday while the euro rebounded from fresh 16-month lows against the US dollar as dealers brushed off vows by France and Germany to speed up measures to ease the eurozone crisis.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted French President Nicolas Sarkozy, kicking off a week of high-level talks to lay the groundwork for the first EU summit of the year.
But markets, which had moved narrowly mixed during most of the the day, all turned downwards once the talks were over.
European stock markets closed with London’s FTSE index of leading companies down 0.66 per cent at 5,612.26 points.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index lost 0.31 per cent to 3,127.69 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 dropped 0.67 per cent to 6,017.23 points.
Elsewhere in Europe, Milan slid 1.67 per cent dragged down by the banking sector. Madrid fell by 0.12 per cent, Lisbon by 0.54 per cent and Amsterdam slipped 0.21 per cent.
In Switzerland, where the central bank chief resigned in a scandal involving a foreign exchange deal by his wife, shares lost 0.44 per cent.
The euro struck a 16-month low at $US1.2666 in Asian trading hours before recovering to $US1.2743, which compared with $US1.2717 in New York on Friday.
Prior to the talks, Germany paid a negative return to investors at a debt auction, meaning investors were willing to pay Berlin to hold their money, highlighting the status of Europe’s biggest economy as a safe haven in the current debt crisis.
But doubts did emerge over even this safe-haven status, as German industrial production dived by a worse-than-expected 0.6 per cent month-on-month in November.
Yields in eurozone countries under more urgent threat have spiked as investors demand top returns for lending money to the bloc’s most indebted countries such as Greece and Italy.
Banks’ overnight deposits with the European Central Bank meanwhile have hit a new record, 463.6 billion euros, a possible sign of ongoing tensions in the financial system despite unprecedented injections of liquidity.
HONG KONG – Asian markets were mixed.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index on Monday closed 0.90 per cent, or 16.65 points, down at 1,826.49, Sydney edged down 3.1 points to 4,105.4 and Hong Kong closed up 1.47 per cent, or 272.66 points, at 18,865.72.
Shanghai finished 2.89 per cent higher, or 62.49 points, at 2,225.89 after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday the government will boost confidence in the stock market, but gave no details.
Financial markets in Japan were closed on Monday for a public holiday.
The euro slipped to 98.20 yen, compared with 98.71 yen on Friday.
The US dollar bought 76.88 yen from 77.24 yen.
Singapore was 0.90 per cent, or 24.31 points, down at 2,691.28.
WELLINGTON – Wellington closed 0.19 per cent, or 6.16 points, lower at 3,247.28.
Fletcher Building fell 2.0 per cent to NZ$5.91, while Fisher & Paykel Appliances was down 1.3 per cent at NZ$0.37 and Air New Zealand dropped 0.57 per cent to NZ$0.88.
