Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Stocks stall after reaching lofty levels

Stocks stalled, a day after the Dow and the S&P 500 closed above important technical levels and at their highest in about 2-1/2 years.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.76 points, or 0.06 percent, to 12,047.92. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 2.33 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,305.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 2.03 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,753.22.

European shares turned negative, with industrial stocks continuing their slide after weaker-than-expected results from Scania and Sandvik's.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was down 0.2 percent at 1,157.81 points after being as high as 1,167.05.

Japan's Nikkei average scored its biggest daily gain in two months with all sectors ending higher as global markets rallied on strong manufacturing data, robust US earnings and easing concerns over the Middle East.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 1.8 percent or 182.86 points at 10,457.36, the biggest daily gain since Dec. 2.

The broader Topix added 1.8 percent to 929.64.