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Wall Street finished the day mixed Tuesday to put a halt to the previous session's strong rally. The Dow still managed to close at a new 2009 high. 

In economic news, 650,000 troubled borrowers have been put into trial loan modifications under the current administration's foreclosure rescue plan.

Meanwhile, the median home price rose US$7,000 to US$177,900 in the third quarter.

The Dow Jones added 20.03 points, or 0.20%, to 10,246.97, the S&P 500 weakened 0.07 points, or 0.01%, to 1,093.01 and the NASDAQ shed 2.98 points, or 0.14%, to 2,151.08. 

Financials were mainly lower, with Wells Fargo retreating 1.1%, while Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan slid 0.7% and 0.4%.

Bank of America bucked the trend after putting on 1.7%.

American Express advanced 1.6%.

Oracle dipped 0.1% after the European Commission objected to its takeover proposal of Sun Microsystems. Sun Microsystems shares lost 1.1%.

IBM and Apple gained 0.7% and 0.8%.

Sprint Nextel sank 5.5% after wireless and wireline communications company said it plans to reduce staff number by between 2,000 and 2,500.

The biggest losses on the Dow included Boeing and Cisco which fell 2% and 1.4% respectively.

A falling local dollar boosted commodity prices. ConocoPhillips and Chevron gained 1.4% and 0.9%, while Exxon Mobil dipped 0.3%.

NYMEX light crude oil for December delivery dropped US38c to settle at US$79.05 a barrel.

COMEX gold for December delivery rose $1.10 to settle at $1,102.50 per ounce after reaching a record intraday high of $1,109.90.

European Markets

European stocks dipped slightly as a larger than expected drop in German investor confidence outweighed positive quarterly result from HSBC. Telco’s struggled after Vodafone posted a disappointing result.

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 slipped 4.63, or 0.09% to 5,230.55. The French CAC40 added 0.10 points, or 0.00% to 3,785.59, while the German DAX shed 6.52, or 0.12% to 5,613.20.

The region’s largest bank HSBC put on 4% after reporting an increase in third quarter profit versus a year ago due to a drop in impairments. 

UK peer Barclays shed 5.1% as it reported a 54% drop in third quarter earnings.

Lloyds finished the day flat as it revealed plans to cut 5,000 jobs.

Commerzbank dropped 2.5%, while in France BNP Paribas and Societe Generale put on 0.5% and 0.3%.

Insurer AXA rallied 2% on the back of a slew of positive broker notes following its proposal to buy out the Asian assets of AXA Asia Pacific. 

Miners tracked metals prices lower. Antofagasta and Anglo American weakened 2.5% and 2.2%, while BHP Billiton lost 0.3%.

In the energy sector, BG Group and BP slid 0.9% and 0.3%. Royal Dutch Shell gained 0.3%.

UK telco Vodafone shed 1.5% after reporting a 2.1% percentage point drop in its earnings margin. France Telecom weakened 0.3%.

Volkswagen slumped 8% on reports Qatar sold half of its shares in the automaker.

Renault and Peugeot fell 3% and 1.3%.

Japanese Markets

Japan’s Nikkei made ground following a strong lead from financials. Investors were buoyed by the news the interest rates would remain low after the G20 meeting.

The Nikkei 225 gained 61.74, or 0.63% to 9,870.73.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group advanced 2.7% and 3.6% after the government said it was prepared to allow local banks to drop below capital ratios for a limited time to ensure the supply of credit. 

Mizuho Financial Group added 1.1%, while trading house Itochu Corp put on 3.4%.

Advantest Corp and Tokyo Electron tracked US chipmaking peers with gains of 1.5% and 2.5% respectively.

Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co surged 7.8% after the company narrowed its full-year loss forecast.

Casio Computer Co rose 4.4% on a broker upgrade.

Hoya Corp put on 1.2% to its highest close since the last week of September after analyst upgrade on the optical glassmaker.

Hong Kong Markets

Hong Kong closed at a two-week high following a positive lead from Wall Street and recent agreements by the G20 to sustain capital flow to the world economy. Financials led the rally while automakers surged on the back of positive sales data.

The Hang Seng rose 60.61, or 0.27% to 22,268.16.

Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China added 1.1% and 1.2%, while HSBC Holding fell 0.2%.

Sinopec Corp dropped to 1.5% despite China increasing fuel prices which will lead to a lift in profits. PetroChina rose 0.8%.

Sino Gold surged 5.7% as the US dollar dropped to a 15-month overnight.

BYD Electronics fell 5.1% after Nokia announced a recall of its China made mobile chargers.

Auto stocks rallied after a report revealed a 76% jump in car sales during October compared to a year earlier.

Qingling Motors and Brilliance China climbed to 32% and 15%.

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