Stocks Flat as Industrials, Utilities Retreat

By Rita Nazareth - Feb 15, 2012 9:46 PM GMT+0700

U.S. stocks were little changed as declines in industrial and utility shares tempered optimism after China said it will get more involved in a solution for Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added less than 0.1 percent to 1,350.99 at 9:46 a.m. New York time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26.95 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,851.33.

Global equities rallied earlier as China pledged to invest in Europe’s bailout funds and sustain its holdings of euro assets. Stock futures pared gains amid concern that officials in Europe and Greece were moving further apart as they try to negotiate a bailout to help the nation avoid default.

In the U.S., output at factories rose 0.7 percent in January after a revised 1.5 percent gain in December that was the largest in five years, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today in Washington. A 2.5 percent decline in utility output caused total industrial production to be little changed, less than forecast. Manufacturing in the New York region expanded in February at the fastest pace since June 2010, according to a separate report.

The S&P 500 yesterday closed about 1 percent away from its peak nine months ago of 1,363.61, which was the highest level since June 2008. The index has risen 7.4 percent this year as the U.S. economy showed signs of accelerating and European leaders moved closer to a solution on the region’s debt crisis.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net