US markets end flat amid low volumes and volatility

By Varinder Bansal, Research Analyst at CNBC-TV18

The US markets ended almost flat amid low volumes and volatility. Crude jumped 2% on back of Libyan concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 18 points at 12,018. The NASDAQ Composite was down 8 points at 2,684 and the S&P 500 Index fell 5 points at 1,293. Total share volume on the NYSE barely broke 800 million compared to average of over 1 billion shares. Asian stocks fell for the first time in four days as more earthquakes strike near nuclear plant; Nikkei was down 1.3% after gaining 4% yesterday. Hang Seng was down 0.3%. Kospi and Shanghai declined 0.1%. However, Strait Times was up 0.4%. SGX Nifty slipped 0.5% and Dow Future fell 0.3%. Europe shares slipped from one-week high; CAC was down 0.3%, DAX down 0.52% and FTSE down 0.4%. Other markets: Market Vectors Egypt was down 5.6%, PSI General Index down 1.24% and Irish Overall Index down 0.57%. CBOE ended down 2% at 20.21. Alert: there was speculation that Portugal