US stocks fell after the S&P 500 wrapped up its best year since 1997, as investors digested data on manufacturing and the labor market.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.85 points or 0.28 percent, to 16,530.81, the S&P 500 lost 5.62 points or 0.3 percent, to 1,842.74 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.172 points or 0.39 percent, to 4,160.418.
In Europe, shares touched fresh 5-1/2 year highs before slipping back, hit by weakness in utilities and miners after a strong end to 2013 left the region’s equities in overbought territory.
Fiat lent some support to the market though, surging 12.5 percent after the Italian carmaker gained full control of Chrysler.
Utilities were the worst-performing sector, down 0.8 percent and pegged back by a 2 percent fall in RWE after a media report sparked concern that Germany’s No. 2 utility may be considering a capital increase.
News that China’s factory activity slowed in December dented the basic resources sector, down 0.7 percent, as the data raised concern about the strength of demand in the world’s second-largest economy and biggest metals consumer.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 0.5 percent at 1,309.89 at 1041 GMT. It has gained more than 6 percent since the middle of December.
The FTSEurofirst rallied 16.1 percent in 2013 in its best showing since 2009 thanks to ample liquidity from global central banks and early signs of an economic recovery in Europe.
Fiat shares traded in heavy volume of 3.3 times their 90-day average after the company tied up a deal to buy the remaining 41.46 percent of American carmaker Chrysler that it did not already own, after over a year of protracted talks.
Italian investment firm Exor, Fiat’s majority stakeholder, rose 4.6 percent, and the two stocks were the FTSEurofirst 300’s top two gainers.
Overall market volumes were light, at 25 percent of an already low 90-day average, and traders said that the seasonal fund flows that often fuel gains in January might not pick up until next week, as this week was interrupted by New Year holidays.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose to a fresh six-year high to close out 2013 with a 57 percent annual gain, its biggest in more than 40 years on the back of aggressive economic stimulus by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The Nikkei rose for a ninth day to end 0.7 percent higher at 16,291.31 on Monday, its longest winning streak since July 2009.
Source: Buenos Aires Herald