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Wall Street finished mixed Wednesday with energy stocks leading the slide on the Dow. Financials also struggled as investors looked at individual stocks rather than sectors elsewhere. 

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will face the Senate banking committee on Thursday seeking confirmation for a second term. It is expected he will face tough questioning in regards to reducing the Fed’s powers.

In economic news, 169,000 jobs were cut in the private sector in November after 196,000 were lost the previous month according to payroll services form ADP. Forecasts were for 150,000 jobs to be lost.

The Dow Jones shed 18.90 points, or 0.18%, to 10,452.68, the S&P 500 added 0.38 points, or 0.03%, to 1,109.24 and the NASDAQ put on 9.22 points, or 0.42%, to 2,185.03.

JPMorgan weakened 0.7% on concerns a change in derivatives rules will have a negative impact on earnings.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America lost 1.9% and 1.5%.

The tech sector was led higher by 1.2% and 1% gains from Yahoo! and Oracle respectively. However, this was somewhat countered by losses elsewhere including Microsoft, Apple and IBM, which were down between 0.3% and 0.8%.

Hewlett-Packard fell 1.2%.

The utility sector has rallied 2.6% in the eight trading days since Pimco chief Bill Gross said he was buying the sector. The sector has outperformed the broader market during this period after being the stock market's worst performer for most of the latest rally.

American Electric Power and Exelon put on 2.7% and 1.9%.

Aluminium producer Alcoa jumped 6.6%. 

General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson resigned after only nine months in the job leaving the automaker to search for a permanent replacement.

Energy stocks tracked the price of crude lower. Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips shed between 0.3% and 0.8%.

NYMEX light crude oil for January delivery fell US$1.77 to US$76.60 a barrel. The drop was attributed to an increase in inventories.

COMEX gold for February delivery rallied US$12.80 to a new closing high of US$1,213 an ounce.

Barrick Gold climbed 4%.

European Markets

European shares closed higher for the second successive day as positive data out of the US boosted sentiment. A rise in metals prices saw miners perform strongly.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 added 15.22 points, or 0.29% to 5,327.39. The French CAC40 rose 20.18 points, or 0.53% to 3,795.92, while the German DAX gained 5.07 points, or 0.09% to 5,781.68.

Rio Tinto and Vedanta led the major miners higher, both rallying 2.6%. BHP Billiton put on 1%, while Xstrata advanced 1.1%.

Energy stocks moved in the other direction, with BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and BP sliding between 0.2% and 0.8%.

Total added 0.4%.

Banks were also lower. BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank lost 1.3%, 2.9% and 1.4% respectively.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds fell 2.1% and 1.9%, while Barclays bucked the trend adding 0.5%.  

An upgrade to European pharmaceutical stocks by UBS resulted in advances within the sector. Bayer and Merck rose 1.8% and 1%.

French luxury goods retailer LVMH put on 2.9% on the back of a broker upgrade.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei closed at a two-week high with automakers leading gains. Resource stocks were boosted by higher commodity prices.

The Nikkei rose 36.74, or 0.38% to 9,608.94.

Nissan Motor gained 2.5% as U.S sales climbed 21% in previous month. Toyota advanced 2.6%.

Mitsubishi Corp put on 2.2% as the price of crude settled at its highest level in two-weeks and gold closed at a record level once again.  Sumitomo Metal Mining Co added 1%.

JFE Holdings and Nippon Steel rose 2.4% and 2.7% on reports of a recovery in demand.

Capital raising concerns saw financials lower. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group shed 2.2% and 2.3%.

Nippon Yusen K.K. fell 2.7% to its lowest close in over 24 years as it looks to raise capital through the sale of shares.

Sumco Corp sank 9% after the silicon wafer maker reported an operating loss.

Hong Kong Markets

Hong Kong shares gained ground for the third straight session. The market was led by gains in the construction sector, gaming and gold stocks as improving housing data out of the US pointed to improved retail and consumer sentiment.

The Hang Seng put on 176.42, or 0.80% to 22,289.57.

The Bank of China was flat, while ICBC tacked on 0.6%. HSBC put on another 1%.

Bank of Communications bucked the trend, easing 0.8%.

Construction stocks also made gains. China Construction Bank Corp added 1.4% and the state owned China Overseas Land & Investment rallied 3.4%.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and PetroChina both gained 1.4%.

Geely Auto surged 5.9% on news that its parent company was close to purchasing Volvo from Ford Motor Company.

Surging gambling revenue buoyed gaming stocks. Wynn Macau jumped 6.2%, while market debutant Sands spiked 6.7%.

China’s number one gold producer Zijin Mining climbed 3.4% as gold producers surge unabated. Gold mining peers Realgold mining rose 1.6%, while Sino Gold Mining spiked 8.1%.