Wall Street ends mixed; dollar depreciates to 3-week lows

In the US markets, stocks pared their losses in the final minutes of trading to end mixed after pulling back modestly as energy and materials stocks weighed heavily on the markets. The Dow clocked gains for an eighth-straight session amid investor confidence that solid corporate earnings will inspire further advances.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.06% or 6.74 points at 12239.89. Nasdaq Composite was down 0.29% or 7.98 poinst at 2789.07. Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.28% or 3.69 points at 1320.88.

In economic data, applications for US home mortgages according to the mortgage bankers' association fell 5.5% in the week ended Feb. 4. Commercial oil inventories rose 1.9 million barrels in the February 4 week to 345.1 million for a fourth straight build, as reported in the EIA petroleum status report.

In the day's economic data to watch out for, the Bank of England's monetary policy announcement with regard to interest rates monthly is expected to remain unchanged at 0.5%.

Initial jobless claims for the February 5 week is expected to drop to 412 000 from 415 000. The US treasury monthly budget report is expected to show a January deficit of USD 60.0 billion versus USD 80.0 billion for the month of December.

The dollar depreciated to 3-week lows versus the euro after a strong treasury debt sale accelerated bearish sentiment in the wake of comments by US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that is bond buying program would continue.

US crude  futures ended slightly lower to settle below USD 87, after a volatile session and pressure from the government's weekly oil inventory report showing crude and products stockpiles had risen last week.

In the precious metals space, gold continued to rise settling above the USD 1365 mark as the dollar fell on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks that the bond buying program would continue suggesting that the interest rates would remain unchanged.