U.S. stocks close almost unchanged | Toronto Telegraph

U.S. stocks close almost unchanged

Toronto Telegraph Tuesday 31st August, 2010

U.S. stocks were little changed at the close Tuesday, despite some positive economic data.

U.S. consumer confidence climbed more than anticipated in August. Sales of existing homes were also slightly higher than expected.

"The fact that two of the weakest areas of the overall economy (the consumer and the housing sector) can show resilience, even for a short time, suggests that other areas will also be moving on into growth," Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, Ohio told Reuters Thomson.

At the close of trading Tuesday the Dow Jones Industrials were up 4.76 points or 0.05% at 10,014.49.

The Nasdaq Composite was off 5.94 points or 0.28% at 2,114.03. For the month the benchmark tech index was down 6%.

The Standard and Poor's 500 was up 0.40 of a point or 0.04% at 1,049.32.

The U.S. dollar was mixed around the New York close Tuesday. The Japanese yen rose sharply to 84.00 despite a more than 3% fall in the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo.

The euro was little changed at 1.2668 while the Swiss franc, a traditional safe-haven currency, rocketed more than a cent higher to 1.0149.

The British pound weakened to 1.5334. The Australian dollar was virtually unchanged at .8894 whereas the Canadian dollar plummeted to 1.0663.