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US stock markets down, European stocks up

30 December 2009 09:08 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Stocks churned Tuesday, ending a choppy session barely lower as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq broke a six-session winning streak, CNNMoney.com reported.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1 point, or less than 0.1%. The S&P 500 index shed 1 point, or 0.1%. The Nasdaq composite slid 2 points, or 0.1%.

Stocks managed slim gains Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending at the highest levels since Oct. 1, 2008 and the Nasdaq ending at the highest point since Sept. 3, 2008.
Trading volume is expected to be light this week, with many market pros taking some or all of the holiday-shortened trading week off. All financial markets are closed Friday for New Year’s Day and many participants will cut out early Thursday ahead of New Year’s Eve.
Most market pros closed the books earlier this month, with investors looking to end a jarring year on a high note.
Year-to-date, the Dow has risen 20%, the S&P 500 has climbed 25% and the Nasdaq has gained 45%. All three indexes are up more substantially since falling to multi-year lows on March 9 amid the height of the financial crisis.
Next year is not expected to be as robust, most analysts say, as investors look for evidence that economic growth can continue without the copious amount of government assistance that provided a buffer and eventual springboard in 2009.
In particular, investors will be looking for signs that housing is still improving, that consumers are spending again, and that the labor market is healing and enough jobs are being added to drive down the unemployment rate.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7%, Germany’s DAX rose 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 added 0.3%.