US STOCKS
Stocks ended little changed, as investors weighed the
turmoil in Iraq against positive manufacturing data and a burst of corporate
deal-making. Stocks spent the day fluctuating between gains and
losses, with investors hesitant to lay big bets in either direction amid
instability in Iraq and a coming update on Wednesday from the Federal Reserve.
Traders reported light volumes, deepening a lull in trading activity that has
settled across Wall Street trading desks this spring.
Investors, meanwhile, focused on a raft of just-announced
corporate deals. Covidien soared 21% after the medical-device maker said over
the weekend that it agreed to be acquired by rival Medtronic for $42.9 billion.
Medtronic's stock slipped 1.1%.
Level 3 Communications announced an agreement to buy TW
Telecom for about $5.6 billion in cash and stock. Shares of Level 3 fell 4.1%,
while TW's surged 7.3%.
ASIAN STOCKS
The Nikkei started the day 0.6% higher, as the market
recovered from a 1.1% drop on Monday--the index's largest daily fall in a
month. The index gave up some of those gains as the session progressed, and was
last up 0.5%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.2%, as mining
companies were hit by further falls in the price of iron ore, which fell 2% to
a fresh 21-month low. Rio Tinto lost 0.9% and Fortescue Metals Group was 2.7%
lower.
In China stocks were lower, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng
Index down 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite down 0.5%.
Trading was generally quiet, following a flat session in
the U.S. overnight, as markets waited for the conclusion of the Federal
Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday, which will give an update on the
direction of monetary policy in the world's largest economy.
FOREX
The greenback was last trading at Y102.03, compared with
Y101.83 late Monday in New York.
METALS
Nickel prices rose on continuing supply concerns Monday,
leading base metals on the London Metal Exchange to close mostly higher.
At the close of open outcry trading in the London ring,
LME three-month nickel was up 3.2% from Friday's settlement price, closing the
day at $18,625 a metric ton.
OIL SUMMARY
U.S. and global oil prices diverged Monday as investors
remained focused on the possible repercussions of instability in Iraq.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery, the U.S. benchmark,
settled 1 cent lower at $106.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent futures rose 48 cents, or 0.4%, to $112.94 a barrel on the ICE Futures
Europe exchange.
TOP HEADLINES
* Japan Fin
Min Aso: Govt Considering Law Change to Curb Pension Payments
* Google
Faces New Woes On Antitrust In Europe
* U.S., Iran
Discuss Crisis in Iraq -- 2nd Update
* HSBC Taps
New Chief Executive For U.S. Business
* Allergan's
Bitter Pill for Morgan Stanley
* Thai
Military Co-Opts Populist Policies of Government Deposed by Coup
* Iraq
Government Loses Control of Another Key City
