Monday, March 12, 2012

Wall Street ends flat as European equities dip

Defensive names rallied in an otherwise flat day for Wall Street on Monday, as traders paused to digest recent gains and looked ahead to a Federal Reserve monetary policy statement.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 37.69 points, or 0.29 percent, to end at 12,959.56. The S&P 500 Index ticked up just 0.22 of a point, or 0.02 percent, to finish at 1,371.09. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 4.68 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 2,983.66.

Meanwhile, European equities edged lower, with optimism on the completion of a Greek debt swap quickly giving way to concerns about borrowing levels in other parts of the region, such as Spain, sparking a sell-off in bank shares.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index closed down 0.2 percent at 1,077.10 points.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average dipped after breaking above 10,000 to a fresh seven-month high as hedge funds locked in profits following a 3.7 percent rally in the previous two sessions and 17 percent so far this year.

The Nikkei slipped 0.4 percent to 9,889.86 after climbing as high as 10,021.51, its highest level since early August last year.

The broader Topix eased 0.4 percent to 845.28. About 2.26 billion shares changed hands, down from a one-year high of 3.48 billion on Friday when the Nikkei's March futures and options expired.