World markets mixed after gloomy US economic data

LONDON (AP) - World stock markets were mixed in lackluster Christmas Eve trading Wednesday, finding little holiday cheer in the latest data on the slumping U.S. economy.

Wall Street managed to shrug off readings on rising U.S. joblessness and declining consumer spending, with the Dow Jones industrial average finishing a shortened session up 48.99 points, or 0.58 percent, to 8,468.48, after falling for five straight sessions.

The blue-chip index is well off its November lows, but is still down for the typically strong month of December.

The Labor Department said initial applications for unemployment benefits rose more than anticipated to a seasonally adjusted 586,000 last week.

The Commerce Department, meanwhile, said consumer spending dropped 0.6 percent in November - the fifth straight monthly drop - and durable goods orders fell 1 percent in November.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index closed down 0.9 percent at 4,216.59 after a shortened trading day, while France's CAC-40 ended down 0.4 percent at 3,116.21.

Germany's stock market was closed.

British drug maker AstraZeneca's shares fell 3.1 percent after it disclosed it had received a request for more information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on its application for new uses for its Seroquel anti-psychotic drug.

In Latin America, Mexico's IPC index closed a shortened session up 0.8 percent at 22,341, while Chile's IPSA ended barely changed, up 0.1 percent at 2339, also in a shortened session.

Markets in Argentina and Brazil were closed for the holiday.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 206.68 points, or 2.4 percent, to 8,517.10, after being closed Tuesday for a holiday.

Shares in Toyota Motor Corp. tumbled 4 percent in their first trading day since Monday, when Japan's biggest automaker said it expected to post its first operating loss in almost 70 years this fiscal year.

Wednesday's news that Toyota's global sales plunged almost 22 percent in November added to the sector's gloom, dragging down car companies around Asia.

Many investors in Asia found little reason to buy after reports released overnight in the U.S. showed no signs of a turnaround in the world's largest economy, already in recession.

The government said gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy, shrank at an annual rate of 0.5 percent in the third quarter.

America's hard-hit housing sector also continued to deteriorate.

New home sales weakened last month to the slowest pace in nearly 18 years, while prices of new homes dropped by the biggest amount in eight months. Sales of existing homes weakened.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed down 0.3 percent to 14,184.14, while South Korea's Kospi lost 1.4 percent 1,128.51.

"The end-of-the-year, bear-market, feel-good rally is ending sooner than many expected,'' said Kirby Daley, senior strategist at Newedge Group in Hong Kong.

"Investors are being hit in the face with the reality of just how bad the U.S. economy is and they're seeing firsthand the effects this is having on the consumer and, as a result, companies like Toyota and U.S. retailers,'' he said.

Elsewhere, Shanghai's benchmark lost 1.8 percent and India's main stock measure lost 1 percent; key indices in Australia, Taiwan and Singapore gained.

Worries that demand would sink further well into 2009 pulled car companies lower. Honda Motor Co., Japan's No. 2 automaker, plummeted 5.7 percent, while South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. shed 2.4 percent.

Oil prices continued to erode in the face of the litany of weak U.S. economic data.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell $3.63 to settle at $35.35 in a shortened day of trading.

Prices fell as low as $35.13 just before the market closed for the holiday. It was the ninth straight day that crude has fallen.

Meanwhile, the dollar fell against most major currencies in light holiday trading. The euro rose to $1.3999 in late New York trading, up from $1.3967 late Tuesday, while the British pound edged up to $1.4752 from $1.4735.

The dollar fell to 90.39 Japanese yen from 90.68.

In addition to markets in Europe, the U.S. and Latin America, many across Asia will be closed Thursday for Christmas, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

Japan's stock market, however, will be open.