The Dow and S&P 500 dipped on Friday as China's move to curb bank lending and US and European economic data raised fears the global recovery might be in jeopardy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 45.05 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 10,099.14. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 2.96 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1075.51. But the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 6.12 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 2183.53.
SPI futures fell 18 points to 4516, pointing to a lower start of trade on the local sharemarket on Monday. The S&P/ASX200 inched 0.2 per cent higher on Friday to chalk up a weekly gain of 1 per cent, its first weekly gain in five weeks. The dollar was buying 88.8 US cents, after closing locally at 89.02 US cents. It was also trading at 65.1 euro cents and 79.8 yen.
Wall Street stocks ended off the day's lows as investors bet the European Union would come up with a clear defined plan to aid debt-laden Greece and restore confidence in countries using the euro.
Stock laggards included large manufacturers and commodity-related companies, many dependent on Chinese demand. On the Nasdaq, bargain-hunting in technology helped the index to end near break-even.
But aluminum company Alcoa fell 2.2 per cent to $US13.28, while conglomerate United Technologies Corp shed 1.5 per cent to $US65.69 and bellwether General Electric dipped 1.4 per cent to $US15.55.
An increase in banks' reserve requirements by China marked the second such rise in as many months. Investors worried China, which has been spearheading the world's economic recovery, might be pulling back too soon.
"You have the lingering issue of the sovereign debt issue, you have questions regarding growth in Europe, questions concerning one of the main engines of growth, which is China," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist with Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. "It all adds to uncertainty in the market."
Markets also fell on weaker-than-expected data on US consumer sentiment and business inventories and on euro zone gross domestic product.
Worries over high unemployment eroded consumer sentiment early this month. The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its preliminary index of sentiment for February was 73.7, below analysts' expectation of 75.0.
Nevertheless, the major stock indexes ended the week higher, halting a four-week string of declines, thanks in part to investors scouring for shares in the beaten-down sectors, particularly technology. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq climbed 2 percent.
"There may be a bit of buying and positioning going into the 3-day weekend, assuming that the EU can iron out issues and finalise agreements to help Greece," said Dennis Cajigas, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock, a retail brokerage firm, in Chicago. Euro zone finance ministers are scheduled to meet on Monday when US financial markets will be closed for Presidents Day.
Earlier on Friday indexes had fallen more than 1 per cent.
Data showed the euro zone's gross domestic product barely expanded in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, missing economists' forecasts.
The Nasdaq's top boosts included BlackBerry maker Research in Motion, which rose 3.1 per cent to $US71.33 after Wedbush Morgan started coverage with an "outperform" rating, saying the stock was exceptionally well positioned.
The top drag on the Dow was 3M, which fell 1.4 per cent to $US79.18 after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch said it expected slower growth from the manufacturer in the coming cycle.
Ingersoll-Rand, which makes climate-control systems, shed 7.8 per cent to $US31.26 after it reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street's expectations and gave a first-quarter profit view that was below consensus.
Reuters
