World Market Overview

U.S. stocks were slightly lower Thursday, trading in a tight range as a mixed bag of economic data left investors with little reason to make major position changes ahead of the holiday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.02% at 11557.

Earlier Thursday, the measure reached a fresh two-year intraday high at 11580.84.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4% at 2662.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined 0.3% to 1255, with financials leading to the downside in a small pullback from the sector's Wednesday rally while materials and telecommunications stocks rose.

The activity followed a mixed round of economic data with few surprises, prompting investors to see little need to change their positions heading into the holiday.

While durable goods orders fell more than twice the drop that was projected by economists, they were weighed down by a 53% plunge in commercial airplane orders.

New orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft a metric that is considered a key barometer of capital spending rose 2.6%, an indication businesses are spending as the economy recovers.

Also encouraging, the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index's final reading for December edged higher, meeting expectations.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer spending was modest in November with a 0.4% increase, slightly smaller than the 0.5% rise economists had forecast.

Demand for new homes in the U.S. also rose less than expected with an increase of 5.5%.

But the number of new homes available for sale fell and weekly jobless claims came in at 420,000, flat with the previous week's revised level.

Thursday's stock moves came on thin volume as traders began departing for the holiday weekend.

The stock market will be closed Friday.

European Markets

European stocks ended with a small gain in thin volume Thursday, the last full trading session before the Christmas holiday, while shares of Allied Irish Banks PLC plunged as the government effectively took control of the ailing financial group.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.1% to close at 281.76, its highest finish in more than two years.

The index is up 1.9% for the week to date.

Many European markets will be closed Friday, with London markets closing at midday.

Shares of AIB fell 18.8% after the government was granted an order by the Irish High Court to inject EUR3.7 billion in funds.

The government, which already has a 19% stake in AIB, will now hold more than 92% of the bank.

AIB shares will be delisted from the main Irish exchange and now list on the Enterprise Securities Market, which will allow shareholders to maintain access to a public facility for those shares.

The Ireland ISEQ index fell 0.3% to 2,878.22.

In London, the FTSE 100 index touched the 6,000 mark for the first time since June 2008 to set a session high at 6,000.55.

The index finished 0.2% higher at 5,996.07.

Offering support were energy stocks such as BP PLC, which rose 1.4% after crude oil settled above $90 a barrel in the U.S. Wednesday for the first time since October 2008.

The French CAC 40 index fell 0.2% to 3,911.32, with telecom equipment vendor Alcatel-Lucent SA up 1.8%, while on the downside, industrial-gases group Air Liquide SA fell 1.2%.

In Germany, the DAX 30 index fell 0.1% to 7,057.69, with few shares showing any significant movement. Deutsche Lufthansa AG rose 0.6% as the winter weather eased.

Asian Markets

Asian markets ended mixed with Riversdale Mining climbing in Sydney on takeover interest, while China property plays lost ground as the government stepped up efforts to rein in the real estate sector.

China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.8%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.6%, and South Korea's Kospi Composite was flat at 2037.53.

Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.

In China, some property developers lost ground after the Ministry of Commerce said it told its local branches to strengthen the review process for foreign investment in real estate to stem the effects of speculative capital inflows on already high asset prices.

On the mainland, China Vanke fell 1.8% and China Merchants Property Development declined 0.9%, while in Hong Kong, blue chip China Overseas Land fell 1.4% and Country Garden was down 1.3%.

China lenders were among the biggest decliners in Hong Kong, with Agricultural Bank of China falling 4.2% to HK$3.86 after the China Business News reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that China will likely increase the provisioning requirements on local government financing vehicles loans.

Base Metals

Base metals closed mostly lower on the London Metal Exchange Thursday, following a day of book squaring and choppy trading.

The LME's three month copper contract closed at $9,295 a metric ton, down 0.5% on the day.

The LME's three month nickel contract closed over $1,000 below Wednesday's high, at $23,600 a metric ton.

Crude futures hit fresh two year highs Thursday, heading above $91 a barrel after several pieces of economic data offered an encouraging outlook on the U.S. economy.

Weekly jobless claims fell by 3,000 to 420,000 last week, a larger drop than expected, while new home sales rose in November and consumer sentiment in December moved higher.

The data added to the U.S. Department of Energy's report Wednesday that oil stockpiles fell for the third consecutive week, pushing oil higher ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery settled $1.03 higher at $91.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

It rose to $91.63 earlier in the session, the highest price since October 2008.

Gold declined as investors cashed in gains amid a downgrade of Portugal's sovereign debt rating and upbeat U.S. economic data.

The thinly traded December contract settled down $6.80, or 0.1%, at $1,380.00 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The most actively traded contract, for February delivery, settled down $6.90, or 0.1%, at $1,380.50.

More from IBT Markets:

Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily