US stocks mixed on eurozone hopes

NEW YORK: US stocks wobbled Monday as investors mulled signs that European leaders were trying to find a way to resolve the eurozone debt crisis.

Wall Street stocks had opened with gains after their worst week in three years, reflecting advances in European markets, but trading turned mixed as investors cautiously watched developments across the Atlantic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 63.65 points (0.59 percent) to 10,835.13 by 1430 GMT.

The broader S&P 500 advanced 0.99 point (0.09 percent) to 1,137.42, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 21.97 points (0.88 percent) to 2,461.26.

Wall Street stocks lost an estimated $1.0 trillion last week, their worst week since October 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis.

US stocks found support Monday after European markets began the week in rally mode on hopes that policymakers would be able to ring-fence the eurozone from contagion from Greece's debt crisis.

Markets were buoyed after participants at meetings of the Group of 20 major economies and the International Monetary Fund pledged to work together to address the eurozone debt crisis.

"The G20/IMF meeting over the weekend made headlines for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the understanding that the participants who gathered there are largely responsible for maintaining global economic order," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.

"Unfortunately, the capital markets have not been convinced that these leaders -- and others -- are up to the task of maintaining order," he said, but "a sense of hope that the conversation on how to preserve order is moving in the right direction" is boosting optimism.

"That's the spin right now anyway."

The latest numbers on the depressed US housing market provided no relief. New-home sales fell for the fourth consecutive month in August, by 2.3 percent from July, the Commerce Department said.

Among stocks in focus, shares in tycoon Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway jumped 5.2 percent to $105,500 after the investment company announced Monday that its board had approved stocks repurchase plan, saying its shares are undervalued.

Boeing was up 1.8 percent at $60.59. The aerospace giant officially delivered its first 787 Dreamliner aircraft Sunday to launch customer All Nippon Airways.

The bond market also traded mixed. The 10-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 1.85 percent from 1.86 percent on Friday, while the 30-year bond rose to 2.94 percent from 2.93 percent.

Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011