Stocks in the United States fell on Wednesday as investors speculated on when the Federal Reserve might curb its stimulus measures and department store Macy's stock fell in a tough sales environment.
The Dow Jones index was down 0.7% to close at 15,338. Standard Poor's 500 Index closed down 0.3%, at 1,689 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.4% to 3,669.
Earlier, the FTSE 100 in London was down 0.37%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.27% and the CAC-40 in Paris was up 0.53%.
The Australian 200 Index was flat on Wednesday and closed at 5,157 and NZX 50 closed down a point at 4,525.
At 8.30am on Thursday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at around 80.30 US and 87.98 Australian cents, 78.75 yen, 51.77 pence and 0.6055 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 75.36.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US112.79 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1332 per ounce.
