* U.S. shares turn mixed, hurt by financials and energy
* Gold edges to another record high of $1,216.75
* U.S. dollar gains on yen after BOJ unveils stimulus plan
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday,
dragged down by financial and energy shares, while gold rose to
a new high even as the U.S. dollar strengthened.
Wall Street fell after stocks briefly touched 14-month
highs on better-than-expected U.S. employment data.
Financials were hurt by concerns U.S. derivatives
legislation now being considered would cut short buying
momentum.
Weaker oil prices stoked a sell-off in energy-related
stocks.
European share prices managed closed higher on news U.S.
private employers shed 169,000 jobs in November versus 195,000
in October. This marked the eighth straight monthly decline in
private-sector job losses, according to ADP Employer Services
report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC.
[]
Stocks in Japan closed at two-week highs on short-covering
after the yen fell against the greenback. A plan by the Bank of
Japan to boost economic support ended up stalling a rally in
the yen to the benefit of the U.S. dollar. []
There are "concerns about the risk of further quantitative
measures from the Bank of Japan or even intervention, which
were exacerbated by the (PM) comments overnight and by the Bank
of Japan's policy announcement yesterday," said Daniel Katzive,
currency strategist at Credit Suisse in New York.
"That's made the market a little bit nervous," he said.
Nervousness over credit problems for Dubai, which proved a
drag on global markets starting late last week have since
dissipated as investors sort through just how much of a debt
overhang there is from the city-state.
State-controlled Dubai World [], which led the
emirate's transformation into a regional hub for finance,
investment and tourism, unveiled details late on Monday of the
restructuring and which parts of its empire were affected. The
process will focus on $26 billion of debt owed by its main
property firms, Nakheel and Limitless. []
In stocks, benchmark indexes were mixed. The Dow Jones
industrial average <> was down 38.62 points, or 0.37
percent, at 10,432.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX>
was down 2.23 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,106.63. The Nasdaq
Composite Index <> was up 4.55 points, or 0.21 percent, at
2,180.36.
JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N>, fell 1.6 percent to $41.56.
The bank said it could see its revenue fall by as much as $3
billion in a "worst case" scenario under the legislation,
according to a note from Sanford C. Bernstein to investors.
"The banks don't know what the heightened financial reform
is going to be. There is no clarity to regulation," said Weston
Boone, vice president of listed trading at Stifel Nicolaus
Capital Markets in Baltimore.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
closed 0.5 percent higher at 1,015.77 points. Japan's benchmark
Nikkei <> inched up 36.74 points to 9,608.94 to close at
its highest level since Nov. 18.
The MSCI All-Country World Index <.MIWD00000PUS> rose 0.11
percent to 299.89.
GREENBACKS AND GOLD
In a breakdown of the current inverse relationship of a
stronger U.S. dollar and weaker price for gold, both financial
instruments gained ground on Wednesday.
The dollar rose versus a basket of major trading-partner
currencies, with the U.S. Dollar Index <.DXY> up 0.34 percent
at 74.618.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> was up 0.67
percent at 87.22. Last week the yen traded at its strongest
point in roughly 14-1/2 years.
"We had very strong yen appreciation (recently), and now
there's some retracement. Risk appetite is a little bit
stronger than it was last week when we had the Dubai news, so
investors are taking profits," said Marcus Hettinger, FX
strategist at Credit Suisse in Zurich.
The euro <EUR=> was down 0.31 percent at $1.504.
Investors' attention has turned to the European Central
Bank's policy meeting on Thursday. It is widely expected to
keep its refi rate on hold at one percent, but also to give
guidance on the timing and extent of how it intends to withdraw
generous liquidity stimulus from the system.
Spot gold prices <XAU=> rose $14.25, or 1.19 percent, to
$1211.50, having touched a record $1,216.75.
Crude oil prices fell after a U.S. government report showed
domestic inventories rose far more than expected last week. The
price for a barrel of U.S. light sweet crude oil <CLc1> fell
$1.70, or 2.17 percent, to $76.67.
U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasuries <US10YT=RR> rose 4/32 of
a point in price, pushing the yield to 3.27 percent. European
government bond yields slipped. The 10-year Bund yield
<EU10YT=RR> eased 1.2 basis points to 3.153 percent
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica, Wanfeng Zhou, Nick
Olivari in New York; Atul Prakash, Jon Hopkins, Emelia
Sithole-Matarise and Jamie McGeever, in London; Blaise Robinson
in Paris; Elain Lies in Tokyo; Editing by Andrew Hay)
((daniel.bases@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6131; Reuters
Messaging: daniel.bases.reuters.com@reuters.net))
