Global stocks flat, euro dips on EU summit doubts

Global stocks were little changed on Tuesday, while the euro fell to a two-week low against the US dollar on investors' doubts that European leaders would make meaningful progress on the debt crisis at a summit this week.

Perceptions that European Union summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels would fall short of market expectations contributed to a near tripling of Spain's short-term borrowing costs.

In the United States, data showing a more severe deterioration in consumer confidence stoked concerns about slowing US growth. They were offset by a private report pointing to a surprisingly strong April rise in home prices.

Anxiety over a global economic slowdown underpinned by the fiscal troubles in the euro zone led analysts to conclude any bounce in stock prices could be short-lived.

"There is not a reason in the world to buy the market this morning, certainly nothing in the overnight that would suggest there is any kind of a good foundational reason to buy the market, even an oversold condition," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Capital in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Investors pared their safe-haven holdings in gold as well as US and German government debt.

They bought oil futures, sending them above USD 92 a barrel in London, on expectations of falling US crude inventory and rising tension over Syria.

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 27.02 points, or 0.22%, at 12,475.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.15 points, or 0.01 percent, at 1,313.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.92 points, or 0.21%, at 2,842.08.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of Europe's top shares edged up 0.08% at 986.33 points.

MSCI's world equity index dipped slightly into negative territory, erasing earlier gains. It was down 0.04% following three straight days of losses.

In the currency market, the euro fell 0.1% against the dollar at USD 1.2482 after touching a two-week low of USD 1.2454.

The dollar was steady against other major currencies. The dollar index was flat at 82.493.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil for August delivery rose more than USD 1 at USD 92.14 a barrel, while US oil futures were down 6 cents at USD 79.16 a barrel.

Gold fell 0.75% at USD 1,571.19 an ounce while copper rose 0.15% at USD 7,346.25 per tonne.

In bond trading, benchmark US Treasury notes were down 10/32 in price at 101 for a yield of 1.64%, up 3 basis points from Monday's close. German Bund futures were down 0.4% at 141.54.

Spain paid its highest short-term borrowing rates in over six months when it sold just over 3 billion euros of three- and six-month Treasury bills.

The yield paid on the three-month bills was 2.362%, up from just 0.846% just a month ago. For the six-month paper, the yield leapt to 3.237% from 1.737% in May.