Wall Street slightly up

US stock slightly increased. The Dow and S&P indices ended little changed in an up-and-down session where investors sold growth sectors in favor of defensive shares like telecoms and utilities.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 4.28 points, or 0.04 percent, at 11,410.21. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.12 points, or 0.09 percent, at 1,193.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 11.97 points, or 0.47 percent, at 2,511.48.

European equities closed at their highest level in more than a week after early losses following disappointment from a Franco-German summit, with investors training their sights on company earnings and cheap equity valuations. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally ended 0.3 percent firmer at 972.13, the highest close since Aug. 5, after falling to a low of 955.94 earlier as a summit between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel failed to calm investor jitters over the euro zone debt crisis.

The Nikkei average fell after a meeting between the heads of France and Germany failed to quell doubts about euro-zone leaders' ability to contain sovereign debt woes. The benchmark Nikkei ended 0.6 percent lower at 9,057.26, while the broader Topix shed 0.3 percent to 776.65.