Wall St finishes flat as central bank stimulus awaited
Shares of Apple climbed to another record, keeping the Nasdaq index afloat in the lowest trading volume of the year, with investors looking ahead to a key speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday.
Apple Inc hit an all-time high of $680.87 during the day after the iPad maker won a $1 billion judgment in a patent lawsuit against Samsung Electronics. The Korean company said it would contest the verdict. Apple, the world's most valuable company, ended up 1.9 percent at $676.68.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33.30 points, or 0.25 percent, at 13,124.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.69 points, or 0.05 percent, at 1,410.44. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.40 points, or 0.11 percent, at 3,073.19.
Meanwhile, European stocks inched higher, reversing early losses as comments from a top Federal Reserve official gave some support to those hoping for a fresh round of U.S. stimulus to prop up the economy.
The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index was up 0.4 percent at 2,443.91 points, after bouncing off a key support level, the trendline formed by its 2011 and 2012 peaks.In Asia, Nikkei share average inched higher today, rebounding from the previous session's sharp loss, as risk appetite improved on expectations that the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve will soon launch further stimulus.
The Nikkei ended 0.2 percent higher at 9,085.39, below its five-day moving average at 9,124.59 and its 26-week moving average at 9,119.58. The benchmark rose as much as 0.9 percent to 9,150.48 earlier in the session. The broader Topix slipped 0.3 percent to 755.37.
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