Thursday, March 29, 2012

Global stocks dip on US jobless data

The Dow managed a slim gain on Thursday while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq shook off most of their earlier losses to end slightly lower, as investors took advantage of a selloff to buy blue chips that have been rallying throughout the quarter.

The Dow industrials sharply erased losses in the last half hour of trading and closed up 0.2 percent.

Despite the S&P 500 marking its third day of declines, the benchmark index is still up 2.8 percent for the month and nearly 12 percent for the year. It has gained almost 12 percent this quarter, its best start to the year since 1998 and its best quarter since the third period of 2009.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 19.61 points, or 0.15 percent, at 13,145.82. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 2.26 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,403.28. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 9.60 points, or 0.31 percent, to 3,095.36.

European shares extended their recent slide to hit a three-week closing low, with several indexes breaching chart support levels as traders took further profits at the end of a stellar first quarter.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 1.2 percent at 1,059.21 points, but still on course for its best first quarter since 2006. World stocks, meanwhile, are eyeing the best first quarter since 1998.

Japan's Nikkei average fell for a second session and slipped further from a one-year high hit earlier this week as investors locked in profits from a meteoric January-March rally that is poised to be its best first-quarter performance in 24 years.

The benchmark has soared more than 19 percent so far this year on the back of a global equities rally as accommodative monetary policies by central banks and strong US economic data drew investors back into riskier assets. The Nikkei eased 0.7 percent to 10,114.79 as investors cashed in ahead of the Japanese fiscal year-end. The broader Topix fell 0.8 percent to 857.74.