GLOBAL MARKETS-Global stock rally stumbles on data, results; dollar slips
* Wall Street edges lower after six-day S&P rally
* Dollar down on weak U.S. markets
* U.S. bond yields dip on weak U.S. data
* Brent oil slips to $109 as U.S. oil inventories hit record
(Adds oil settlement prices)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Frankfurt: HX6.F - news) , April 23 (Reuters) - The dollar fell and global
equity markets edged lower on Wednesday in response to
disappointing U.S. housing data and weak corporate earnings that
reversed market momentum after five days of gains in a global
stock index.
In Europe, rising worries over Ukraine also weighed,
offsetting data that showed Germany continued to power the euro
zone's recovery.
Europe's private sector started the second quarter on its
strongest footing in nearly three years, according to a
purchasing managers' index for the euro zone, although new
orders were mainly buoyed by price cuts.
But the pace of U.S. growth slowed in April, even as factory
activity continued to expand, and sales of new U.S.
single-family homes tumbled to their lowest level in eight
months in March, dealing a setback to the housing market
recovery.
Strong results from Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) failed to inspire Wall
Street investors to keep pushing equities higher. The S&P 500 on
Tuesday had marked a sixth straight session of gains.
MSCI (NYSE: MSCI - news) 's measure of global equity performance
faltered after five straight days of gains. The all-country
world stock index fell 0.2 percent. In Europe, the FTSEurofirst
300 index of leading regional shares closed down 0.57
percent at 1,338.84.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.31
points, or 0.06 percent, at 16,505.06. The Standard & Poor's 500
Index was down 3.24 points, or 0.17 percent, at 1,876.31.
The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 30.09 points, or
0.72 percent, at 4,131.37.
"As (U.S.) equities underperform, this leads to buying of
Treasuries and yields fall. The dollar is softer as a result
because it is reflecting other markets rather than internal
components," said Sebastian Galy, senior currency strategist at
Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) in New York.
Corporate earnings were mixed, though companies have largely
been beating reduced forecasts.
Shares in Ericsson (Xetra: ERCA.DE - news) , the Swedish mobile telecom
equipment maker, fell 6.1 percent, trimming the most points off
the FTSEurofirst 300, after the company's first-quarter sales
and profit came in below analysts' forecasts. The results were
hit by weak trading in North America.
Boeing Co reported first-quarter revenue that beat
expectations and lifted its core earnings forecast to reflect a
tax settlement gain, sending its shares up 1.93 percent to
$130.01.
But fellow Dow component AT&T Inc (NYSE: T - news) fell 3.1 percent to
$35.13 a day after reporting results.
U.S. Treasuries prices rose after the weak economic data
spurred safe-haven bids and traders covered short positions
against bonds following a recent sell-off.
"You cannot continue to attribute this weakness in the
economy to the weather and that's why people were a little
surprised," said Stanley Sun, interest rate strategist at Nomura
Securities International in New York.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was
last up 11/32 in price to yield 2.6842 percent.
The dollar slipped against the euro and yen
. Its value against a basket of currencies fell
to its lowest level in a week.
The euro rose 0.09 percent to $1.3816.
Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.22 percent to
102.37 yen.
Brent oil fell after weekly data showed U.S. crude
inventories hit a record high, though prices found some support
from the continuing crisis in Ukraine. U.S. crude oil stocks
jumped 3.5 million barrels to 397.6 million barrels last week,
the U.S. Energy Information Administration said.
Brent crude for June delivery reversed slight gains
after the EIA data to settle down 16 cents at $109.11 a barrel.
U.S. crude for June delivery settled down 31 cents at
$101.44 a barrel.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Additional reporting by Marc Jones
in London; Editing by Leslie Adler, Cynthia Osterman and Dan
Grebler)