Safe bets buoy Wall Street as growth questioned
Stocks that outperform in a weak economy helped buoy the Dow and S&P 500 as concerns about faltering growth and inflation prompted investors to seek out less volatile names.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 14.16 points, or 0.12 percent, to 12,285.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 gained 0.11 of a point, or 0.01 percent, to 1,314.52. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.30 points, or 0.05 percent, to 2,760.22.
European shares fell on worries about higher global inflation as well as a weakening US jobs market, while concerns about Greek debt hit banking stocks.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares closed down 0.6 percent at 1,128.84 points after paring bigger losses. Volume was 106.3 percent of its 90-day average.
Japan's Nikkei average inched up but stayed in a narrow range as investors awaited earnings, while Isuzu Motors jumped on a report that Volkswagen was considering buying all or part of the Japanese truckmaker.Isuzu climbed 6.2 percent to 310 yen, and traded at 3.5 times its average daily volume of the last 30 days.
The Nikkei benchmark closed up 0.1 percent or 12.74 points at 9653.92, after having dipped earlier. The broader Topix gained 0.3 percent to 846.72. The Nikkei found support at its 25-day moving average at 9,563.77.
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