Wall Street closes mixed

Wall Street investors opted to keep their wallets relatively shut.

US stocks closed mixed,paring some earlier losses as traders weighed new fragile US retail sales figures.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17.64 points 0.17 per cent to 10,526.49 by the close,while the broader Samp;P 500 index was down 0.80 points 0.07 per cent to reach 1,121.10 points.

However,the tech-rich Nasdaq composite index rose 4.06 points 0.18 per cent to 2,289.77.

All three indexes traded in negative territory in early trading,hovering around the flatline throughout the day.

8220;It has been a very volatile day,8221; said Lindsey Piegza analyst at FTN Financial.

8220;We got some pretty good retail sales numbers but the market seemed to shrug those off,we were surprised to see that.8221;

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Just before the opening bell,the Commerce Department released figures showing US retail sales rose for the second straight month in August,up 0.4 per cent versus the month before.

Americans spent more on food and clothes,but less on cars and electronics,it said.

The figures were slightly better than forecast by most economists,joining a slew of positive economic indicators in recent weeks that increased optimism over the recovery of the world8217;s largest economy.

But in Europe,figures released yesterday showed German investor confidence slumped badly in September,suggesting recent very strong growth may slow markedly over the balance of the year.

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On Monday,Wall Street closed higher as traders were encouraged by a key global bank reform aimed at increasing bank8217;s resilience in crises as well as strong economic data from China.

Among leading stocks,electronic retailer Best Buy saw its shares soar by nearly six per cent after it reported its quarterly earnings jumped 61 per cent,beating expectations,and also raised its outlook.

Banks saw their shares decline after Monday8217;s sharp gains following the news of the global banking reform,with Bank of America8217;s shares dropping 1.9 per cent,Wells Fargo down 1.66 per cent and JP Morgan losing nearly one per cent.

The bond market was slightly up.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond declined to 2.666 per cent from 2.741 per cent on Monday while that on the 30-year bond was down to 3.786 per cent from 3.842 per cent. Bond yield and prices move in opposite directions.