While you were sleeping: Labour woes persist

While you were sleeping: Labour woes persist

(BusinessDesk) January 28 - Stocks on Wall Street were mixed, as investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings and disappointing U.S. jobless claims data.

Applications for jobless benefits rose 51,000 to 454,000 in the week ended January 22, Labor Department data showed. That's the highest level in three months.

On the positive side, Caterpillar Inc’s fourth-quarter profit surpassed analysts’ estimates on strong sales in China, Australia and Latin America.

"It is disconcerting that we can't seem to get and stay below the 400,000 level on jobless claims," Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners in Chicago, told Reuters. "But Caterpillar's numbers were strong overall and are a sign of improving conditions overseas."

In midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.05% lower and the S&P 500 Index slipped 0.11%. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.15%.

Earnings were a mixed bag, too.

Better-than-expected results posted after the market close on Wednesday boosted Netflix Inc to a record and Teradyne Inc to a gain of nearly 11%.

But Procter & Gamble Co and AT&T Inc declined as their quarterly sales fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp are also scheduled to report today.

Meanwhile, ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered Japan’s long-term debt rating by one notch to AA minus, cutting it for the first time in nine years, saying the government lacked a coherent plan to address the nation’s growing debt.

"It is not a good sign.... A major economy like Japan being cut is not going to go down very well," Mark Priest, senior equities trader at ETX Capital, told Reuters.

The yen fell, declining as much as 1% against the greenback.

The U.S. dollar traded recently at 82.92 yen, up 0.8%.

The euro gained, rising 0.25% against the U.S. currency and climbing more than 1% against the yen, after European Central Bank executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said an expected rise in imported goods inflation could not be ignored.

"The ECB has started to show more concern about secondary price pressures, and the market has acknowledged that," Gavin Friend, currency strategist at nabCapital, told Reuters.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.2% to 282.98 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London.

Spot gold slid to US$1,320.60 at 1634 GMT, against US$1,346.36 late in New York on Wednesday, after earlier in the session falling to the lowest level since October 22.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery dropped US$15.10 to US$1,317.90.

Brent crude oil moved toward its biggest premium over U.S. crude in two years as high inventories weighed on U.S. crude.

The premium of Brent to U.S. crude was at US$11.19, close to its highest since January 2009 after earlier touching $11.27.

U.S. benchmark crude oil for March delivery declined 96 cents to US$86.37. ICE Brent for March fell 35 cents to US$97.56.

"The front month of U.S. crude is very weak due to high inventories at Cushing," Christophe Barret, global oil analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, told Reuters.

(BusinessDesk

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