Thursday, April 5, 2012

Wall street drops as European shares limp higher

US stocks mostly dipped on Thursday, but the S&P 500 ended its worst week this year as growing pressure on Europe's debt markets revived concerns about the region's financial stability.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 14.61 points, or 0.11 percent, to 13,060.14 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dipped 0.88 of a point, or 0.06 percent, to 1,398.08. But the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 12.41 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,080.50.

Strong miners helped haul European equity markets into positive territory, after a choppy day's trade, ahead of a long holiday weekend and the release of the influential March US jobs report.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 1.25 points, or 0.1 percent, at 1,052.24, rebounding from Wednesday's 2 percent drop, after a volatile week, with markets closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter holiday.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell for a third straight day to four-week low, also hurt by renewed concerns about Europe's funding difficulties after a weak Spanish debt auction and by fading hopes for additional stimulus from the US Federal Reserve.

But the Nikkei is still up more than 15 percent this year, supported by liquidity boosting programmes from central banks and a run of strong US economic data, and strategists said that while the market was now decidedly more cautious, they do not expect a bear market relapse.

The benchmark Nikkei ended down 0.5 percent or 52.38 points at 9,767.61, after sliding more than 2 percent on Wednesday. The broader Topix index ended down 0.3 percent at 832.57.