US markets end mixed; crude jumps above $ 89 mark

US markets ended mixed but off the lows amid renewed worries about the european debt situation.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.32% or 37.31 points at 11637.45. Nasdaq Composite was up 0.17% or 4.63 points at 2707.8. Standard & Poor's 500 was down 0.14% or 1.75 points at 1269.75.

After the bell Alcoa kicked off the earnings season in the US. The company's profit jumped as aluminum prices rose in the final quarter of 2010 after two years of weakness. The aluminium major posted 21 cents a share earnings in the fourth quarter excluding one-time items, compared with 1 cent a share last year. The Q4 sales rose to USD 5.7 billion up from USD 5.43 billion last year.

In the currency space, the dollar index is steady around the 81 mark even as the euro recovered losses after it fell to a four-month low against the dollar. However, concerns about the debt situation in the Eurozone continue.

In the commodities, crude prices rose above the USD 89 mark after a weekend leak shut the trans Alaska pipeline and forced producers to cut output to about 5% of their daily average of 630,000 barrels.