US stocks edged higher today, lifting the S&P 500 for its seventh straight day of gains, as concern over a possible US-led strike on Syria ebbed and investors bet the Federal Reserve would trim its stimulus measures only slightly.
Apple Inc’s shares fell 5.4 percent one day after it unveiled a high-end iPhone with a fingerprint scanner as well as a cheaper model targeted at emerging markets.
The decline in Apple hurt the Nasdaq Composite, which dropped 4.01 points, or 0.11 percent, to 3,725.010. But the Dow Jones industrial average, aided in part by a rise in IBM shares, rose 135.54 points, or 0.89 percent, to 15,326.60. The S&P 500 gained 5.14 points, or 0.31 percent, to 1,689.13.
A key European equity index scaled fresh two-year highs today, lifted by a rebound in beaten-down utility stocks and a surge in chip designer ARM .
The broader FTSEurofirst 300 index also ended up 0.3 percent at 1,247.61 points, putting it back within touching distance of a five-year high of 1,258.09 points reached in May. The Euro STOXX 50 is up 9 percent since the start of 2013 while the FTSEurofirst 300 is up 10 percent.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei average ended little changed after hitting a seven-week high on receding worries over Syria and the yen’s slide against the dollar, with profit-taking in recently strong Olympics-related shares eroding early gains.
The benchmark Nikkei was virtually flat at 14,425.07, after rising to as high as 14,561.46, its highest intra-day level since July 25.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald