WELLINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) -
EQUITIES
NEW YORK - Wall Street was lower on Wednesday as Brent crude slid back towards the 11-year low it hit last week and Apple (O:AAPL) weighed on all three major indexes.
At 12:33 p.m. ET (1533 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 51.98 points, or 0.29 percent, at 17,669, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 7.34 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,071.02 and the Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was down 18.99 points, or 0.37 percent, at 5,088.95.
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LONDON - European stock markets fell on Wednesday as weak commodity prices hit the shares of mining and energy companies.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 was down 0.5 percent at its close, while the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index .STOXX50E fell 0.8 percent, surrendering ground after rising in the previous session.
Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading shares .FTSE fell 0.6 percent while Germany's DAX .GDAXI was down 1.1 percent.
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TOKYO - Japanese stocks edged up in thin trade on Wednesday after a Wall Street rally helped brighten sentiment on the Nikkei's last trading day of 2015.
The Nikkei share average .N225 closed 0.3 percent higher at 19,033.71. The broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.3 percent to 1,547.30 in thin trade, with only 1.32 billion shares changing hands, the lowest since April 2014. The JPX-Nikkei Index 400 .JPXNK400 edged up 0.2 percent to 13,951.93.
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FOREIGN EXCHANGE
NEW YORK - The U.S. dollar rallied against commodity currencies such as the Norwegian crown and Russian ruble on Wednesday after declining oil prices weighed on the currencies of oil-dependent economies, while short-covering kept the euro afloat.
The dollar hit a more than one-year high against the Russian currency of 73.45 rubles RUB= , and a more than one-week high of 8.798 crowns NOK=D3 against the Norwegian unit. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was last up 0.23 percent .DXY at 98.321.
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TREASURIES
NEW YORK - U.S. Treasuries prices were mixed on Wednesday in thin and choppy year-end trading ahead of a seven-year note auction by the Treasury and as oil retreated.
The yield on the five-year note US5YT=RR climbed to 1.824 percent in morning trading, its highest level since September 2014, a move traders attributed to light volume and market volatility. The yield on the U.S. two-year note US2YT=RR was last up 1/32 in price to yield 1.091 percent.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last down 1/32 in price to yield 2.310 percent, up from 2.307 percent late on Tuesday. The U.S. 30-year bond US30YT=RR was last down 5/32 in price to yield 3.049 percent, up from 3.041 percent late on Tuesday.
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COMMODITIES
GOLD
NEW YORK - Gold fell on Wednesday, as the combination of a firm dollar and weak oil prices left the metal on track for its third consecutive annual loss.
Spot gold XAU= dipped 0.8 percent to $1,060.09 an ounce by 1536 GMT, while U.S. gold futures GCcv1 were down $8.20 an ounce at $1,059.70. Trading volumes were muted in the holiday-shortened week.
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BASE METALS
LONDON - Copper held steady on Wednesday, but expectations of surplus metal and weak demand in top consumer China mean prices look likely to come under further pressure over coming sessions.
Benchmark copper CMCU3 on the London Metal Exchange ended up 0.1 percent at $4,735, but the metal, used in power and construction, remained on course for a loss of more than 25 percent this year.
For a full report, double click on MET/L
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OIL
NEW YORK - Crude prices fell more than 3 percent on Wednesday, with Brent sliding toward 11-year lows, after an unusual build in U.S. stockpiles and signs Saudi Arabia will keep adding to the global oil glut.
The front-month in Brent LCOc1 , the global oil benchmark, was down $1.25 at $36.54 per barrel by 12:54 p.m. EST (1754 GMT), less than $1 from a 2004 low hit last week.
WTI's front-month CLc1 fell $1.40 to $36.47.
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