NEW YORK - Wall Street ended mixed on Tuesday as concerns about the path of Hurricane Gustav sent oil prices higher and offset a better-than-expected reading on consumer confidence.
Comments from the Federal Reserve about rising inflation added to the market’s unease.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a gain of 26.62 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 11,412.87.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 3.62 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 2,361.97 while the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index added 4.67 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 1,271.51.
LONDON - European stock markets closed mostly firmer on Tuesday, recovering from early losses as investors cheered better-than-expected but still weak US consumer confidence figures.
London bucked the firmer trend, with the FTSE 100 index fell 34.90 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 5,470.70 points.
FRANKFURT - The DAX was up 43.57 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 6,340.52.
PARIS - The CAC 40 index added 12.68 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 4,368.55.
TOKYO - The benchmark Nikkei-225 index lost 99.95 points , or 0.78 per cent, to 12,778.71.
HONG KONG - The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 48.13 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 21,056.66.
WELLINGTON - The sharemarket improved during the day after an early slide, but failed to make it into the black despite some solid company results.
The benchmark NZSX-50 index closed down 5.91 points at 3,321.0.
SYDNEY - The Australian stock market is expected to open in positive territory after US stocks ended mostly higher overnight.
At 0740 AEST on the Sydney Futures Exchange, the September share price index futures contract was up six points at 4,992.
Today, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) releases preliminary data on construction work done in June.
Companies releasing annual results include IOOF Holdings, Westfield Group, Transurban Group, PrimeAg Australia, Hastie group, Regional Express Holdings, Macquarie Media Group, GPT Group, Gloucester Coal, Australian Vintage and Australian Infrastructure Fund.
Woodside Petroleum’s interim results are due.
The Australian share market closed marginally lower yesterday, with mixed performances from many sectors after a weak US lead overnight provided little direction.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 7.4 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 5,007.5, while the broader All Ordinaries shed 7.8 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 5,082.3.
NYMEX
Oil prices rebounded on Tuesday on concerns that a strengthened Hurricane Gustav could damage energy facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, climbed $US1.16 to close at $US116.27 a barrel.
In London, Brent North Sea crude for October added 60 US cents to settle at $US114.63.
Oil bounced higher as Gustav grew from a tropical storm into a hurricane Tuesday.
The storm barreled into Haiti, packing powerful winds and heavy rains that were likely to cause massive destruction throughout the desperately poor Caribbean nation.
Gustav was also on a path to strike Jamaica and Cuba, and possibly offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico later in the week - a threat that led to a spike in oil futures prices.
Anglo-Dutch energy giant Royal Dutch Shell meanwhile said it was planning to evacuate some staff from its Gulf facilities because of Gustav.
Earlier on Tuesday, oil prices had fallen as weak German data stoked concerns about slowing global economic growth and lower demand for energy.
Heightened tensions between Russia and Western countries over Moscow’s military action in Georgia also stoked supply concerns.
Investors were worrying that a new standoff could interrupt the pipeline flow of Azerbaijani crude from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.
Oil prices have tumbled from record highs above $US147 set on July 11 after breaking through $US100 at the start of the year.
COMEX
Gold futures for December delivery added $US2.40 to $US828.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Silver for September delivery increased 0.205 US cents to settle at $US13.575 on the Nymex while September copper fell 0.0430 US cents to settle at $US3.4385 a pound.
