U.S. stocks close mixed on currency fears

New York -- U.S. stock indexes closed mixed Wednesday as New York oil ended at a record high and the U.S. dollar hit a record low against the euro, on currency fears.

Crude closed at a record $79.91 after a government report said U.S. oil supplies fell 7.1 barrels.

The dollar fell to about 71.91 euro cents, raising fears the U.S. Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee will not cut interest rates Tuesday to avoid weakening the dollar even more.

Analysts said Thursday's U.S. jobless-claims data and Friday's retail-sales report could offer insight into Fed thinking ahead of the meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.74 points, or 0.13 percent, to 13,291.65. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index ended almost even, up 0.07 points, or a negligible percentage, at 1,471.56.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 1,445 stocks rose and 1,876 declined, on volume of 3 billion shares traded.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 5.40 points, or 0.21 percent, at 2,592.07.

In London, the FTSE 100 index closed up 25.50, or 0.41 percent, at 6,306.20.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index finished the day down 80.07 points, or 0.5 percent, at 15,797.60, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would quit.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 8/32, yielding 4.403 percent, while the 30-year bond was down 13/32, yielding 4.681 percent.

The U.S. dollar fell to 114.18 yen from 114.26 yen in New York late Tuesday. The euro rose to a record $1.3906 from $1.3835.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.