Wall Street mixed on investor caution
by Elaine Frei
Asian and Pacific equities markets were higher on Monday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 2.5 percent to 20,979.24 for its biggest one-day gain in almost a year. The gains there came as China allowed its banking clients to invest in overseas stock markets for the first time. That sent Hong Kong listed shares in mainland-based companies up 5.4 percent on the session. In India, the Sensex added 1.23 percent to 13,965.86 after going as high as 14,025 during the day. All sectors there except for cars closed up on the day. In Japan, the Tokyo markets were also higher on the session, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.7 percent to 17,677.94 as the Topix index gained 0.5 percent to 1,730.99. In Australia, meanwhile, the S&P/ASX200 index gained 47.7 points to 6,345 and the Sydney Ordinaries added 49.4 points to close at 6,346.7.
Most European markets were lower on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.24 percent to 1,578.32, while the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt dropped 0.26 percent to 7,459.61 and the Paris CAC-40 was 0.4 percent lower to 6,026.42. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.16 percent to 6,555.5, while the FTSE 250 bucked the trend and added 0.03 percent to 12,037.6.
Wall Street was mixed at midday as many investors waited for the release of several economic reports as well as quarterly results from some big players in the retail sector, notably Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD), due on Tuesday. Last week’s sales figures made some investors nervous. By noon the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 percent to 13,365.8 after having reached another new record at 13,383.76 earlier in the day. The S&P 500 was also slightly higher, up 0.06 to 1,506.81, but the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.22 percent to 2,556.6.
Oil prices were up early on supply concerns, but by mid-afternoon in New York, West Texas Intermediate had dropped 7 cents per barrel. Metals prices were also down in afternoon trade in New York.
Among currencies, sterling and the yen were weaker, while the euro gained on the US dollar.
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