US STOCKS-Wall Street closes flat, dollar volatile

NEW YORK, New York -- The US stock markets remained on Tuesday, with the major indices all finishing flat to lower.

Bill Northey, senior investment director at the U.S. Bank, said the market shifted its focus from the end of the third quarter earnings reporting season to now additional factors that are likely to influence the Federal Reserve in December deliberations.

The investors are focused on the path ahead rather than the rear-view mirror. The Dow Jones industrials rose by 3.07 points or 0.01 percent to 33,852. The Standard and Poor's 500 edged down 6.32 points or 0.16 percent to 3,957, down 6.32 points or 0.16 percent. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 65.72 points or 0.59 percent to 10,983. The U.S. dollar was volatile on foreign exchange markets. After being bought up in the U.S. and European markets on Monday, the dollar was sold off in Asia on Tuesday. European and US markets came to the rescue and took the dollar higher. The euro fell to 1.0327 by the New York close Tuesday. The British pound fell to 1.1949. The Swiss franc fell to 0.9538.

The Canadian dollar was lower at 1.3583. The Australian dollar was only slightly weaker at 0.6688. The New Zealand dollar fell to 0.668.

The big movers in Hong Kong and China were on the overseas equity markets. The Hang Seng increased by 906.74 points or 5.24 percent to 18,204. The Australian All Ordinaries rose 23.40 points or 0.32 percent to 7,442. In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 jumped by 87.04 points or 0.77 percent to 11,395. The FTSE 100 in London increased by 0.51 percent. The German Dax fell by 0.19 percent. The Paris-based CAC 40 edged up 0.06 percent.