Stocks mixed as dollar slips

NEW YORK: Global stocks were mixed while the dollar edged lower yesterday as weak US economic data and a still simmering European debt crisis weighed on sentiment.
Investors snapped up safe-haven debt and gold prices rose toward $1,625 an ounce. Oil prices eased after initially rising after US refinery rates surged to their highest in nearly five years, data from the Energy Information Administration showed.
Shares of JPMorgan rose 3.8 percent to $35.04, giving the benchmark S&P 500 its second-biggest boost, as no damning news came out of Chief Executive Jamie Dimon's testimony before Congress on its multibillion-dollar trading loss.
Markets are expected to remain on tenterhooks ahead of a Greek vote on Sunday and fears that Spain's financing problems may spread to Italy. The question of whether Greece will remain in the euro zone after the election and the potential impact of Europe's woes on global growth also affected sentiment.
"We're still in an environment where the macro trend is deteriorating and we think that most recent news flow from the corporates is becoming worrying as well," Emanuel Cau, a strategist at JPMorgan, said.
"Our advice is to sell any rally as long as the macro backdrop doesn't improve," Cau said.
US stocks traded near break-even, European stocks closed down while shares of emerging markets rose and an index of global stocks edged higher, helped by earlier gains in Asia.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.18 points, or 0.03 percent, at 12,576.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.05 points, or 0.08 percent, at 1,325.23. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 3.91 points, or 0.14 percent, at 2,846.98.
In Europe, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top regional companies closed down 0.3 percent at a provisional 986.95.
MSCI's all-country world equity index rose 0.4 percent to 302.47.
Wall Street initially opened lower as demand for building materials sagged and falling gasoline prices crimped receipts at service stations, dragging retail sales down 0.2 percent, the Commerce Department said.
April retail sales were revised to show a 0.2 percent drop instead of the previously reported 0.1 percent gain. Excluding the surge in auto sales, sales fell 0.4 percent, the biggest decline in two years.
The US Labor Department said its producer price index dropped 1.0 percent in May as energy costs slumped 4.3 percent.
"PPI is a bit of a surprise and isn't a good sign. It continues to chip away at sentiment. This won't be well received by the market," Todd Schoenberger, managing principal at the BlackBay Group in New York.
Oil priced initially rebounded after crude inventories slipped last week less than forecast, while gasoline and distillate stocks fell, offsetting expectations of a build and helping crude oil to trade higher. But US crude later fell.
Brent crude rose 31 cents to $97.45 a barrel.
US light sweet crude oil, however, was down 36 cents at $82.96 a barrel.
"The market moved higher after the EIA data but the euro's strengthening against the dollar at nearly the same time may have been more responsible for crude's move higher than the data," said Michael Fitzpatrick, editor of industry newsletter Energy Overview in New York.
US Treasuries prices erased losses and turned higher.
The benchmark 10-year US Treasury note rose 10/32 in price to yield 1.63 percent.
Yields on 10-year German bonds fell to 1.484 percent.
"Many now believe that the point of no return is getting nearer with the peripheral (European) economies in a somewhat irreversible dynamic, with their economies depressed and their access to capital markets shrinking," said Lee McDarby at Investec Corporate Treasury.
The dollar fell against the yen, while the US dollar index was down 0.5 percent at 82.028, and the euro was up 0.7 percent at $1.2585.