US stocks ended little changed in weak volume, pausing after the previous session’s strong gains and getting only a brief boost when the United States’ credit outlook was revised to stable from negative.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 9.53 points, or 0.06 percent, at 15,238.59. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.57 point, or 0.03 percent, at 1,642.81. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 4.55 points, or 0.13 percent, at 3,473.77.
European shares were flat by midday today with an attempt to rally capped by strong falls in miners, which were hit by weak data from the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, China.
JP Morgan warned investors should not bet on a potential catch-up rally in shares of mining and energy companies despite their underperformance so far this year.
Miners helped keep a lid on a rebound in the FTSEurofirst which struggled 0.64 points higher at 1,194.90 by 1039 GMT, off the day’s low of 1,190.12.
Japan’s Nikkei share average jumped 4.9 percent, marking its biggest one-day gain since March 2011, after US jobs data eased growth concerns but was not strong enough for the Federal Reserve to scale back massive stimulus.
The Nikkei ended 636.67 points higher at 13,514.20, moving further away from the bear market territory it hit last week. Trading volume hit a one-month low of 2.43 billion shares, indicating relatively low conviction for the rally.
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