A report late yesterday that Saudi Arabia did not expect a deal at talks by major crude exporters next week aimed at freezing output and reining in a global glut, affected world stock indexes which yesterday edged lower.

The decline in world stock indexes came as investors locked in gains from earlier this week following an optimist streak that the US Federal Reserve will hold off from raising interest rates in the near term.

“The equity market is taking a bit of a breather after a strong week,” said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partner, in Bethesda, Maryland.

“Investors are saying markets are already expensive and they’ve become more expensive this week, so this is a bit of a reversal.”

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 73.11 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 18,319.35, the S&P 500  lost 7.2 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 2,169.98 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.73 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 5,322.79.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index  shed 0.5 per cent but was on track for its biggest weekly gain since mid-July. Europe’s STOXX 600 closed down 0.7 per cent.

US Treasury yields were little changed, with benchmark US yields hovering near two-week lows as traders moved to the sidelines following a recent bond market rally.

US benchmark 10-year Treasury notes  were up 1/32 in price for a yield of 1.627 percent, down 0.5 basis point from Thursday.

Earlier yesterday, it had touched 1.606 per cent, its lowest since September 9, Reuters data showed.

In the foreign exchange market, the dollar index was mostly flat.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren’s comments that he believed US short-term interest rates should be raised now provided some support, but the index  was near unchanged at 95.437.

The dollar index was on track for its worst week in a month.