Wall Street ends a strong quarter optimistic on payrolls
US stocks ended a solid quarter with the barest of moves, as investors looked ahead to Friday's US jobs report to provide a catalyst to push indexes to new highs for the year.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 30.88 points, or 0.25 percent, to 12,319.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 dipped 2.43 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,325.83. The Nasdaq Composite edged up 4.28 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,781.07.
European stocks fell back, halting an almost uninterrupted two-week rise as renewed fears over Portugal's debt crisis prompted investors to book profits on the last session of the quarter.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.9 percent lower at 1.124.88 points, ending the roller-coaster quarter with a gain of 0.3 percent.
Japan's Nikkei average ended higher with fund managers shifting into construction stocks and smelters while moving away from domestic-demand shares at the quarter's end on expectations for a hike in demand as Japan said it may spend $120 billion on reconstruction after a massive quake.
The benchmark Nikkei average ended the day up 0.5 percent at 9,755.10, while the broader Topix advanced 0.4 percent to 869.38, pushed higher by year end window-dressing.
COMMENTS >
