Wall Street ends flat; dollar rebounds from 15-month low

Excerpts from Bazaar on CNBC-TV18 Watch the full show » ALSO READ See how Asian markets are doing

The US markets ended flat with a positive bias after spending much of the day in the red. Microsoft led the Dow after several positive analyst comments including Morgan Stanley, which raised its price target but the retail sector took a hit today after weak outlook from home depot and target.

Also Read: How ADRs performed

At closing bell, the Dow and the Nasdaq each rose 0.3%, while the S&P 500 closed at 1110.

In economic data from the US, producer prices rose 0.3% in October, with the core rate dropping 0.6%. And industrial production climbed 0.1% last month. This was less than the 0.4-percent gain expected.

The dollar rebounded from a 15-month low after Ben Bernanke's rare comments on the currency spurred traders to trim long-term bets against the greenback.

Oil prices rose more than 1% to above USD 79 a barrel on forecasts that a government report will show US fuel inventories declined last week.

Copper fell nearly 1% after dollar rebounded. In other metals nickel lost 0.6% while zinc was down almost 2%.

Here is a verbatim transcript of Julia Boorstin's comments on CNBC-TV18. Also see the accompanying video.

Markets end in positive territory on Tuesday - the Dow gaining 30 points, the Nasdaq adding 6 points and the S&P 500 rising by 1 point.

Wholesale prices rose less than expected in October. The Labour Department says its Producer Price Index, which is considered as an early read of price trends, was up 0.3% last month. Analysts expected a gain of 0.5%.

The National Association of Home Builders says its Sentiment Index remains unchanged at a rating of 17 in November that was les than expected as home builders remained cautious ahead of the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit, which Congress extended after the survey was completed.

CIT Group says its losses grew in Q3 to just over USD 1 billion. That compared to a loss of USD 317 million a year ago. The commercial lender recently filed for bankruptcy after being unable to secure bond holder approval to reduce its mounting debt.