WELLINGTON, Dec 29 (Reuters) -
EQUITIES
NEW YORK - Wall Street began the last trading week of the year in negative turf, as the oversupply pressure on crude oil prices showed no signs of abating.
At 12:32 p.m. ET (1732 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 80.55 points, or 0.46 percent, at 17,471.62, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 11.55 points, or 0.56 percent, at 2,049.44 and the Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was down 33.89 points, or 0.67 percent, at 5,014.60.
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LONDON - European shares steadied early on Monday after re-opening following the Christmas holiday, with investors seen as reluctant to place strong bets in thin year-end trading.
The Euro STOXX 50 index .STOXX50E was flat in percentage terms at 0808 GMT, Germany's DAX .GDAXI was up 0.04 percent, while France's CAC .FCHI fell 0.1 percent.
For a full report, double click on .L
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TOKYO - Japanese stocks gained ground in subdued trading on Monday after a rebound in global crude oil prices helped offset disappointing November production and retail figures.
The Nikkei share average .N225 steadily added to the morning session's modest gains to end the day up 0.6 percent at n8,873.35.
The broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.9 percent to end the day at 1,529.22 with all but three of its 33 subindexes in positive territory.
The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 .JPXNK400 climbed 0.8 percent to 13,796.98.
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FOREIGN EXCHANGE
NEW YORK - The U.S. dollar held near a more than one-week low against a basket of major currencies on Monday as some traders who had taken bullish bets on the greenback took profits ahead of year- end, while the Canadian dollar fell on a dip in oil prices.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was last down 0.06 percent at 97.910 .DXY .
The euro was last up 0.05 percent against the dollar at $1.09760, just below a more than one-week high of $1.10000 EUR=EBS . The dollar was last down 0.06 percent against the yen at 120.375 yen JPY=EBS . The dollar was last up 0.50 percent against the loonie, at C$1.3889 CAD= .
For a full report, double click on USD/
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TREASURIES
NEW YORK - Prices on U.S. Treasuries were mostly flat on Monday during light trading, with the yield on two-year notes edging up to a more than five-and-a-half year high as traders balanced positions ahead of a $26 billion dollar auction of two year notes by the Treasury Department.
U.S. two-year notes US2YT=RR were last down 1/32 in price to yield 1.023 percent, up from 1.002 percent on Thursday. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last at 0/32 in price to yield 2.242 percent, slightly down from 2.243 percent on Thursday.
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COMMODITIES
GOLD
NEW YORK - Gold edged lower on Monday in line with a retreat in oil prices, giving up some of last week's gains, but moves were muted in thin liquidity in a holiday-shortened week.
Spot gold XAU= was down 0.5 percent at $1,070.81 an ounce at 1440 GMT, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 for February delivery were down $5.40 an ounce at $1,070.50.
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OIL
NEW YORK - Oil fell 3 percent on Monday, with global benchmark Brent back near 11-year lows as last week's short-covering dried up and players worried that crude prices had more room to swoon.
Brent was down 98 cents at $36.93 a barrel by 11:35 a.m. EST (1635 GMT), falling to a session low of $36.56 earlier. It hit a 2004 low of $35.98 on Tuesday.
U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell $1.25 to $36.85, slipping to $36.66 at one point. Oil bears are looking to beat WTI's previous low of $32.40 in December 2008.
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