The Dow Jones closed lower Wednesday despite positive durable goods data spurring a rally in morning trade. The Federal Reserves decision to keep short-tem bank lending rates at almost zero was the catalyst for a late sell-off.
Meanwhile, a report said durable goods orders rose 1.8% in May, ahead of a 0.9% drop that economists expected.
The Dow Jones slid 23.05 points, or 0.28%, to 8,299.86, the S&P’s 500 added 5.84 points, or 0.65%, to 900.94 and the NASDAQ gained 27.42 points, or 1.55%, to 1,792.34.
Oracle jumped 7% after a better than expected quarterly report and forecast. The software company led the NASDAQ higher.
Apple and Microsoft advanced 1.7% and 0.6%.
Search engine Yahoo! surged 5.3%, while Google added 0.9%. Hewlett-Packard and IBM shed 0.4% and 0.3%.
The majority of financials finished above the line. Wells Fargo gained 1.1%, while Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup added 1% each.
JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley shed 0.3% and 0.2%, while American Express lost 2%.
Berkshire Hathaway and American International Group put on 1.2% and 0.7%.
Boeing slumped a further 5.8% as it paid the price for further delays to its 787 Dreamliner. Lockheed Martin was 2.3% cheaper.
Aluminium manufacturer Alcoa gained 2.1%.
Energy stocks closed lower as the price of crude dropped. Exxon Mobil and Chevron slid 0.7% and 0.4%, while ConocoPhillips bucked the trend to add 1.1%.
NYMEX light crude oil for August delivery fell US58c to US$68.66 a barrel.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose US$15.70 to US$940 an ounce.
European Markets
European stocks climbed after the European Central Bank contributed its biggest-ever liquidity injection. Banks and miners led the rally as oil stocks also made ground.
The UK benchmark FTSE 100 added 49.96, or 1.18% at 4,279.98. France’s CAC40 gained 67.94, or 2.18% to 3,184.76, while the German DAX climbed 128.86, or 2.74%, to 4,836.01.
UK banks Barclays, Lloyds and Standard Chartered jumped 4.5%, 4% and 5.3% respectively. BNP Paribas and Societe Generale put on 4.5% and 3.2%.
Deutsche Bank surged 6.6% following an analyst upgrade.
Insurer AXA climbed 4.5%, while Allianz and Prudential advanced 3.2% each.
Miners tracked metal prices higher. Anglo American spiked 10.2%, while Antofagasta and Xstrata added 3.3% and 5.5%.
Aussie peers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton climbed 5.6% and 4.7%.
Total led oil stocks into the black. It gained 1.9%, while BG Group and BP added 0.3% and 0.4%.
Royal Dutch Shell was down 0.3%.
Japanese Markets
Japan’s Nikkei rose despite a report showing a 0.3% fall in exports in May versus the previous month. The nation’s exports fell 40.9% from a year earlier.
The Nikkei 225 gained 40.71 or 0.43% to 9,590.32.
Exporters were buoyed as the yen weakened against the US dollar. Canon put on 2.6%, while industrial-robot maker Fanuc jumped 4.8%.
Wireless carrier Softbank surged 6.4% after announcing dividend increases and an analyst price target rise.
Oil company Showa Shell Sekiyu climbed 6.1% after revealing plans to start a solar power project in Saudi Arabia.
Operator of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain, Seven & I Holdings, shed 2.2%.
Hong Kong Markets
Hong Kong shares rallied after reaching a month low on Tuesday. Power companies were among the biggest gainers after a report said electricity production has climbed 3.8% on a year earlier.
The Hang Seng climbed 353.78, or 2.02%, to 17,892.15.
Huaneng Power, Datang International Power Generation Co and Harbin Power added 2.3%, 3.5% and 5.6% respectively.
Steelmaker Angang Steel put on 5.3% after Asia’s largest iron ore deposit was found in China.
PetroChina was 2.7% stronger.
Sino Land advanced 3.7% after winning shared rights for a development, while China Overseas Land & Investment gained 5%.
