(Updates prices, changes comment)
* Gold recovers after plunging to five-year lows
* Wall Street slides with earnings in focus
* Dollar index slips from three-month high
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Crude oil edged higher and
gold prices rose on Tuesday on the back of a softer U.S. dollar,
while earnings hurt Wall Street and helped drag a gauge of major
global stock markets lower.
Spot gold prices halted a plunge of nearly 6 percent in the
past six days, after hitting a five-year low on Monday as
investors dumped inflation hedges. A stronger U.S. dollar and
Greece looking to seal a bailout deal added to the bearish
catalysts for the metal. ID:nL3N1012YJ ID:nL5N1011Z4
U.S. crude oil futures rose after slipping under $50 a
barrel, while Brent remained toward the bottom of its $55-$60 a
barrel range, near its lowest since early April. ID:nL1N1011B1
Stocks on Wall Street fell, with results from bellwethers
IBM and United Technologies weighing the most on the S&P 500,
while Apple was also down ahead of its earnings report, expected
after the closing bell.
Of the 81 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported
earnings, 70 percent have been above analyst expectations while
just 53 percent have beaten on revenue.
"We remain cautious regarding earnings because there is a
lack of revenue growth," said John Toohey, head of equities at
USAA Investments in San Antonio, Texas.
"For the bull market to be sustainable, we need to
transition from financial engineering to organic revenue
growth."
At 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average
.DJI was down 202.47 points, or 1.12 percent, to 17,897.94,
the S&P 500 .SPX lost 9.43 points, or 0.44 percent, to
2,118.85 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 11.41 points,
or 0.22 percent, to 5,207.45.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares .FTEU3
was down 1.1 percent after rising 9.3 percent in the previous
nine sessions. MSCI's gauge of major global stock markets
.MIWD00000PUS slipped 0.2 percent.
EURO UP BUT DOLLAR SEEN STRONG
The euro EUR= bounced back against the dollar after
hitting a three-month low on Monday. It was last up 1.2 percent
at $1.0952 and the dollar index .DXY , which measures the
greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.8 percent.
The dollar strength is seen returning in the short term on
expectation of rate differentials, as the U.S. Federal Reserve
prepares to raise interest rates by year-end.
"The tension is fading on the euro down there," said David
Rodriguez, quantitative strategist at FXCM in New York. "The
dollar is still in control."
Spot gold XAU= added 0.9 percent on the day to $1,106.28
after sliding toward $1,088 on Monday.
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Gold price return vs selected assets:
http://link.reuters.com/mux25w
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Oil prices edged up as the U.S. dollar slipped, but were set
for large monthly drops in the face of a global supply glut.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 1 cent at $56.66 a
barrel. U.S. crude futures CLc1 rose 10 cents to $50.25.
U.S. Treasuries prices rose as stocks fell, with reduced
concerns over Greece's debt crisis keeping gains in check.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes US10YT=RR were last up
9/32 in price to yield 2.3416 percent, from 2.374 late Monday.
U.S. 30-year bonds US30YT=RR were last up 16/32 to yield
3.0812 percent, from a yield of 3.106 percent late Monday.