Markets got little respite from an announcement by US President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday that he would offer working families a $1,000 tax cut and improve energy efficiency in millions of American homes in order to create jobs and stimulate the economy. US stocks ended mixed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 27.24 points, or 0.31 percent, to 8,742.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.08 points, or 0.34 percent, to 909.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 17.95 points, or 1.12 percent, to 1,617.01. MSCI's world stock index lost 0.3 percent to 232.39, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 shed 0.79 percent to 870.92. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 72.11 points, or 1.6 percent, at 4,435.40, despite a half percentage point interest rate reduction from the Bank of England, which took the benchmark rate to an all-time low of 1.5 percent. Germany's DAX fell 98.44 points, or 2.0 percent, to 4,839.03, while France's CAC-40 was down 59.70 points, or 1.8 percent, to 3,286.39. European markets were already lower after hefty US losses Wednesday due to a profit warning from Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, and an employment survey predicting that the private sector shed a greater-than-expected 693,000 jobs in December. That frayed nerves ahead of Friday's official employment report from the government. Tokyo's Nikkei average lost 3.93 percent to 8,876.42, erasing all of the new year gains. Oil prices fell Thursday amid concerns over a US stockpile buildup and worries that the global economic slump will further dampen demand. The benchmark contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, fell 93 cents to close at $41.70 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February dropped $1.19 to $44.67 a barrel on the InterContinental Exchange. The markets remain gripped over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and potential effects on Middle East oil supplies, causing oil prices to be up briefly in European and Asian trading hours Thursday. But prices retreated again as concerns mounted over the US economic slump and oil stockpile buildup. The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday that stockpiles of crude increased by 6.7 million barrels last week, far higher than predictions from analysts for a gain totaling only 700,000 barrels. News on the buildup in recession-struck United States, the world's biggest crude consuming nation, pushed New York crude down by $5.95 and London Brent oil by $4.67 on Wednesday. “The only thing that can drive oil higher in the short term is geopolitical news because we are loaded with crude,” said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading. “The 6.7 million barrels in crude show supplies of crude are reaching glut-like proportions,” he said. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes rose 12/32 in price to yield 2.45 percent. The 10-year Bund yield fell 7.6 basis points to 3.131 percent. Gold prices rose as the dollar weakened. Spot gold rose $14.90, or 1.77 percent, to $859.10. Prices of corn, wheat, soybeans and copper ended the day lower Stock market observers said there's been a noticeable change in market sentiment as investors took heed of the warnings and the expected grim US non-farm payrolls data for December. Equity markets had enjoyed a rally in the run-up to the 2008 year-end on hopes that the raft of fiscal and monetary measures around the world would help the global economy recover sometime in the second half of the year.
