US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as gains in American Express and Caterpillar helped push the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly higher, but the Standard & Poor's 500 index was weighed down by consumer stocks, including homebuilder PulteGroup, following a bigger-than-expected drop in housing starts.
The total number of houses and apartments that started construction in the first quarter of 2010 rose 4.3% from the fourth quarter of 2009 to a seasonally adjusted 42,399.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics also reported that the number of private-sector houses started in the first quarter fell 2.4% from the previous quarter to 27,845. The trend estimate for the total number of housing starts, which further smoothes the seasonally adjusted numbers, rose 8.7% from the fourth quarter to 42,683.
US stocks rallied on Tuesday, erasing the Standard & Poor's 500 loss for the year as strong notebook-computer sales from Best Buy lifted technology companies such as Microsoft while lower delinquencies from credit-card issuers including American Express also provided a boost.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 213.88 (2.10%) to 10,404.77, its highest close since May 19 and the fifth time this year the Dow had a one-day gain of more than 200 points. However, the measure is still off 0.22% for the year.
The value of personal finance issued in April fell 0.6% after seasonal adjustment from March to $6.81bn, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
The decline in personal finance comprised a 1.7% fall in revolving credit and a 0.7% rise in fixed lending. Commercial finance rose 5.6% in April in seasonally adjusted terms from March to $31.6bn.
A fall of 17.1% in revolving credit for commercial finance was accompanied by a rise of 15.8% in fixed-lending commitments. Lease finance fell by 8.0% in April after seasonal adjustment to $353m.
A rally in US stocks evaporated in thin trading on Monday as a downgrade to Greece's debt rating served as a reminder of Europe's debt issues.
DuPont was among the decliners, in addition to big banks JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, which were hit with worries about their exposures to European banks.
US stocks rallied broadly on Thursday, with Caterpillar, American Express and Chevron among the gainers, as economic data from the US and China and comments from European officials reassured investors about the global economy.
All three major large-cap measures experienced their third-largest one-day gains of the year.
Exports of crude oil and condensates fell by 18% to 3,788m litres in the first quarter of this year, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said.
The decline in volume was moderated by higher prices, with value falling by 15% to $2bn. Thermal coal export volumes slipped 13% to 30.8m tonnes, with value falling 10% to $2.6bn, while the value of liquefied natural gas exports rose 21% to $2.2bn on steady production levels.
The labour market remained a story of strength in May, with a further 26,900 jobs created over the month, enough to push the unemployment rate to its lowest since January.
The increase in employment takes total job creation since August 2009 to 283,600, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Unemployment fell to a seasonally adjusted 5.2% in May from 5.4% in April. The number of people in full-time work rose 36,400, while the number in part-time work fell 9,400.
US stocks fell Wednesday, with Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Exxon Mobil among the decliners after worries about global growth re-emerged.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 40.73 (0.41%) to 9,899.25. The measure's financial components were among its weakest, as Bank of America declined 32 cents (2.1%) to $15.01, and JP Morgan Chase slipped 66 cents (1.8%) to $37.12. Exxon Mobil was also among the Dow's top decliners, with a drop of $1.21 (2%) to $60.03.
RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said strong commodity prices would push the country's terms of trade back to 50-year highs in 2010, adding recent sovereign debt woes in Europe would have a limited direct impact on the commodity-rich economy.
He forecast the global economy grew by around 1% in the first quarter, which is much stronger than the central bank had expected a year ago and remained upbeat on the outlook for Asia.