* Wall Street mixed in volatile trade, tech a boost
* Euro tempers gains on Greece's soft bond deal
* U.S. Treasuries under pressure
NEW YORK, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little
changed on Tuesday as persistent worries about fiscal problems
in Europe offset optimism over data that underscored the view
the economy was stabilizing, while the euro weakened on
concerns over Greece's funding strategy.
Greece's sale of 5 billion euros of seven-year bonds on
Monday attracted around 7 billion euros of bids, but that
compared with more than 16 billion euros bid for a 5 billion
euro 10-year issue earlier in the month. []
"I think there's more to the issue of sovereign debt and
bond yields than people make out," said Subodh Kumar, chief
investment strategist, Subodh Kumar & Associates, in Toronto.
The euro fell sharply against the dollar as investors took
profits after two days of gains and on the unease about the
euro zone's fiscal health.
Strong U.S. consumer confidence boosted the dollar against
the yen, but that data and data on U.S. housing prices that
also pointed to an improving economy failed to rally other
markets.
The Conference Board, an industry group, reported that U.S.
consumer confidence rebounded in March, helped by a slight
increase in optimism about the labor market.
And the closely-watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home
prices index showed that January home prices rose for an eighth
straight month, pointing to stability in the U.S. housing
market. For details, see [][]
On Wall Street, stocks started the day higher on optimism
from the economic data and as Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> move to
develop a new iPhone boosted telecom and chip maker shares. But
shares failed to hold gains and see-sawed between positive and
negative territory.
A dearth of volume exaggerated market swings in a
holiday-shortened week.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 8.31 points,
or 0.1 percent, at 10,904.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was down 0.26 points, or little changed, at 1,172.96.
The Nasdaq Composite Index <> was up 0.57 points, or
little changed, at 2,404.93.
Apple <AAPL.O> shares shot to a record high, rising more
than 2 percent to $237.48 on a report the company is developing
a new iPhone that would work on Verizon Communications Inc's
<VZ.N> mobile network. []
Verizon shares were up 3.2 percent at $31.43 while AT&T
<T.N>, currently the service provider for iPhone, shed 1.8
percent to $26.04.
European shares ended slightly higher on Tuesday, with
gains in the utility sector overshadowing falls in banks,
though UBS <UBSN.VX> rose on news about the performance of its
fixed income business.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed up 0.1 percent at 1,079.34 points after earlier touching
its highest level since early October 2008, at 1,086.03.
The utility sector was in demand following rises on Monday
as investors stuck with defensive stocks. E.ON <EONGn.DE>, GDF
Suez <GSZ.PA> and RWE <RWEG.DE> were up 0.7 to 1.3 percent.
"We have had a cracking few weeks and the first quarter
looks to be a good one, but now we are into pre-Easter profit
taking" said Jim Wood-Smith, head of research at Williams de
Broe.
EQUITIES FLAVOR OF THE MONTH
In currency markets, the dollar rose above 93 yen for the
first time since early January as the strong U.S. consumer
confidence data bolstered views that the Federal Reserve will
raise interest rates sooner than its Japanese or European
counterparts. It was last up 0.4 percent at 92.80 yen <JPY=>.
"The U.S. economy keeps getting better while Japan is still
in deflation, and with the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield knocking
on 4 percent, the interest rate differential is pushing the
dollar up," said Hidetoshi Yanagihara, senior currency trader
at Mizuho Corporate Bank in New York. He said the dollar could
reach 95 yen in the second quarter, which begins on Thursday.
Sterling rose as data showed the UK economy growing a bit
more swiftly than expected. The pound rose 0.7 percent to
$1.5089 <GBP=> while the euro was changing hands at 88.85
pence, down 1.2 percent <EURGBP=>.
The euro fell 0.6 percent to $1.3404 <EUR=> and shed 0.2
percent to 124.37 yen <EURJPY=>.
The dollar was up against a basket of major trading-partner
currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 0.1 percent at
81.471 from a previous session close of 81.358.
U.S. Treasury debt prices were lower as the market prepared
for a fresh supply announcement and key employment data this
week.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note <US10YT=RR> was
down 3/32, with the yield at 3.88 percent, while the 2-year
U.S. Treasury note <US2YT=RR> was down 1/32, with the yield at
1.07 percent.
At the longer end of the yield curve, the 30-year U.S.
Treasury bond <US30YT=RR> was down 3/32, with the yield at 4.78
percent.
Conversely, MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose to
its highest since January, while the FTSEurofirst 300 index
<> was in positive territory and emerging stocks
<.MSCIEF> gained 0.5 percent.
In energy and commodities prices, U.S. light sweet crude
oil <CLc1> rose 15 cents, or 0.18 percent, to $82.32 per
barrel, while spot gold prices <XAU=> fell 0.5 percent, to
$1102.70. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index <.CRB> was up 0.78
points, or 0.29 percent, at 273.61.
(Reporting by Nick Olivari; Editing by Leslie Adler)
