Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Wall Street ends flat in late flurry of buying

US stocks erased losses in a late flurry of buying to end little changed as overall optimism about earnings offset disappointing results from blue chips 3M and Johnson & Johnson.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 3.33 points, or 0.03 percent, at 11,977.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.34 point, or 0.03 percent, at 1,291.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 1.70 points, or 0.06 percent, at 2,719.25.

European shares fell, as confidence in Britain was shaken by an unexpected drop in fourth-quarter UK growth figures and with Spanish banks down on concerns new capital requirement rules may not be tough enough.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed 0.6 percent lower at 1,144.14 points.

Japan's Nikkei average climbed for a second straight session, breaching a key resistance level as it regained some of the ground lost last week, helped by anticipation of upbeat corporate earnings.

The benchmark Nikkei ended the day up 1.2 percent, or 119.31 points, at 10,464.42. The broader Topix index added 1.3 percent to 929.28.