A global gauge of equities dipped yesterday after kicking off the first trading day of the new year with a sharp loss, while the rebound in gold continued and crude prices fell further.
Copper prices posted their largest daily drop in a month, hit by concerns over Chinese growth, a day after touching a seven-month high.
Low volumes were expected in the United States as a snowstorm blanketed the country’s Northeast, including financial hubs New York and Boston.
A speech by outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was to be the focus for any fresh details on the Fed’s economic stimulus withdrawal plans.
“I don’t think Bernanke will say anything market-moving today. The market will stay steady today, gearing up for next week,” which will feature a host of economic reports and the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 14.12 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 16,455.47. The S&P 500 Index was down 1.75 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 1,830.23. The Nasdaq Composite was down 16.13 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 4,126.94.
European stock markets resisted a wave of risk aversion that swept across Asia, where stocks suffered their toughest session in almost a month after a measure of activity in China’s services sector slipped in December, just as one for manufacturing had on Thursday.
The benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.5 per cent, and MSCI’s index of equities in 45 countries was down 0.15 per cent.
Spot gold rose for a fourth session to hit a two-week high as weaker equities spurred demand for the metal as a safe-haven asset. It was recently up one per cent at $1,236.26 an ounce. Three-month copper dropped 1 percent to $7,319.50 a ton in its largest daily drop since Decemeber 2.
Expectations for a rise in Libyan supply and speculation of a buildup in US stockpiles kept pressure on oil prices after they tumbled Thursday.
US crude fell to a one-month low after four consecutive declines, and Brent dipped after posting its largest daily drop since late June.
“The sentiment is still bearish for sure, and I think Libya is still going to be the key driving factor,” said Amrita Sen, chief analyst at consultants Energy Aspects.
The greenback last traded 0.2 per cent lower against the yen, at 104.51 yen, down from a five-year high of 105.44 yen set Thursday.
The euro, the top-performing major currency of 2013, shed 0.8 per cent to 142.08 yen, extending its losses in the wake of its 1.2 percent slide the previous day.
Against the US dollar, the euro lost 0.55 per cent to $1.3595.