* Alcoa misses revenue estimate, weighs on Wall Street
* Euro little changed after key Greece debt auction
* Lower oil prices pressure European, emerging stocks
(Updates with European stocks close)
By Walter Brandimarte
NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - Global stocks fell on
Tuesday as aluminum maker Alcoa Inc missed its revenue target
while the euro was nearly flat against the dollar after Greece
successfully sold short-term debt at very high yields.
U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on safe-haven buying as
investors remained cautious about the fiscal problems of the
weakest euro zone members and before a slew of key corporate
earnings that will help gauge the strength of the economy.
Greek bond prices fell after the country sold a total of
1.2 billion euros ($1.63 billion) of six-month and one-year
T-bills, in its first borrowing test since the euro zone agreed
on a standby rescue package for the debt-laden country.
The very high yields paid on the bills -- 4.55 percent and
4.85 percent, respectively -- reminded investors of the soaring
costs Greece will have to pay to further access the market.
"It does not really change the underlying position that
Greece has very tough times ahead," said Ben May, economist at
Capital Economics in London.
In the United States, the cautious mood was reinforced by
quarterly results that showed Alcoa Inc <AA.N> missed its
revenue target, even as earnings were in line with
expectations. For details, see []
"This will certainly be an earnings period where there is
continued focus on revenues," said Tim Ghriskey, chief
investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford
Hills, New York.
"Investors are looking for signs of revenue growth to show
that the economic rebound is real and is generating real
demand," he said.
But a rise in shares of General Electric Co <GE.N> and
other big industrial names supported the Dow.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was up 0.83 point,
or 0.01 percent, at 11,006.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> was down 2.91 points, or 0.24 percent, at 1,193.57. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> was down 3.24 points, or 0.13
percent, at 2,454.63.
Alcoa's shares declined 2.3 percent, while GE's shares rose
1.7 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index <> of top European shares
ended 0.26 percent lower, with energy companies sliding after
U.S. crude oil prices pushed lower for a fifth consecutive
session.
Energy companies Total <TOTF.PA>, ENI <ENI.MI>, BG <BG.L>
and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> all fell between 0.6 and 1.7
percent.
Crude oil prices <CLc1> slumped $0.54, or 0.64 percent, to
$83.80 per barrel on speculation that inventory reports will
show stockpiles rose again last week.
The drop also weighed on commodity-exporting emerging
economies, leading the MSCI stock index for the emerging
markets <.MSCIEF> to decline 0.7 percent.
TREASURIES UP, EURO FALLS
Analysts said markets were wary ahead of key first-quarter
earnings reports this week, including JPMorgan Chase & Co
<JPM.N>, Google Inc <GOOG.O>, Bank of America Corp <BAC.N> and
General Electric Co <GE.N>.
The cautious mood inspired investors to buy safe-haven U.S.
Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note
<US10YT=RR> was up 3/32 in price, with the yield at 3.8243
percent.
Greece's 10-year bond yields <GR10YT=TWEB> rose from a
session low of around 6.72 percent to around 6.94 percent
according to Tradeweb after the sale of short-term debt.
The euro fell to a session low as investors focused on the
fiscal problems of the euro zone, leaving aside earlier
pessimism about February U.S. trade data that had weighed on
the greenback.
The European single currency <EUR=> was practically
unchanged at 1.3583 per greenback, after touching a session low
of $1.3552.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar <JPY=> dipped 0.18
percent to 93.08 yen as a larger-than-expected U.S. trade
deficit prompted investors to debate the strength of the
recovery in U.S. manufacturing.
