Wall Street ends flat, as European shares drop

The Dow industrials and the S&P 500 ended flat on Monday after a late-day bounce, as worries about slower global growth hitting corporate sales were offset by earnings that beat expectations.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 2.38 points, or 0.02 percent, to 13,345.89 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched up just 0.62 of a point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,433.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11.33 points, or 0.38 percent, to close at 3,016.96.

European shares fell after US industrial bellwether Caterpillar joined other multinational manufacturers in giving a sobering take on the outlook for the global economy.

The FTSEurofirst 300 closed down 0.4 percent at 1,107.42, having dropped 0.8 percent on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei average edged up today to mark its sixth straight day of gains as a softer yen and expectations of easing from the Bank of Japan outweighed the latest disappointing US earnings from General Electric and McDonald's Corp.

The index fell more than 1 percent in the morning session as its 5.5 percent gain last week prompted investors to take profits.

The broader Topix dropped 0.1 percent to 753.72, in moderate trade as volume was at 98.8 percent of its 90-day average.