Wall St ends lower; brent crude rebounds to $ 116/bbl

The US markets closed slightly lower after struggling in a narrow range amid light trading.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.01% or 1.29 points at 12213.09. Nasdaq Composite was down 0.515 or 14.05 points at 2751.72. Standard & Poor's 500 was down 0.145 or 1.8 points at 1320.02.

The mortgage bankers association's seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity rose to its highest level in three months at 15.5%. US wholesale inventories also scaled their highest level in 14 months as it rose 1.1% to settle at USD 436.88 billion.

The energy information administration released a mixed petroleum inventory report for the march 4 week with crude inventories clocking an increase of 2.5 million barrels.

In the day's economic data to watch out for the Bank of England will announce its monetary policy with regard to interest rates.

The IS international trade gap is expected to rise to 41.0 billion dollars from 40.6 billion dollar deficit in the previous month. Initial jobless claims for the march 4 week are expected to rise to 385,000 from 368,000.

In the currency space, dollar traded near its weekly highs against the euro gaining 0.4% as positive economic data propelled investor confidence in the US economy.

The Brent prices rebounded to USD 116 as intense fighting in Libya stoked more supply worries. Upmove has been seen in Nymex prices as well after they slipped overnight on higher inventories.

The fighting continued to intensify around the Libyan port of Ras Lanuf, which is bracketed by two of the country's most important petrochemical complexes. Gaddaffi's forces resorted to air strikes in an attempt to recapture the area.

Libyan oil output is down by more than two-thirds from 1.6 million barrels per day to just 500,000 currently.