Wall Street falls after Fed minutes, European shares end mixed

US Treasury debt prices slid and world stocks reversed course and dipped today after minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve's policy committee showed rising concern about the Fed's policy of buying bonds to stimulate growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 21.19 points, or 0.16 percent, to 13,391.36. The S&P 500 fell 3.05 points, or 0.21 percent, to 1,459.37. The Nasdaq Composite lost 11.70 points, or 0.38 percent, to 3,100.57.

A leading pan-European share index ended higher today, helped by rallying Swiss blue-chips returning from a national holiday and by forecast-beating US private-sector jobs figures ahead of key payrolls data.

Switzerland's SMI benchmark surged 2.9 percent, catching up with the European market rally on Wednesday sparked by Washington's deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff, with UBS up 4.1 percent and Roche up 3 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 0.5 percent higher at 1,162.56 points, its highest closing level in nearly two years.