Wall Street looked set to continue its volatile run yesterday as data showed that US economic growth advanced at its slowest rate in three years as consumer spending slowed.

Revised fourth-quarter gross domestic product data showed a 1.6 per cent annual increase, up from the 1.1 per cent initial estimate, but markedly slower than the 4.1 per cent growth seen in the third quarter.

An hour before the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up just one point, while S&P 500 futures were 2.16 points below fair value and Nasdaq futures were 2.7 points below fair value. Later in the session, the Conference Board was due to report on consumer confidence.

Europe’s bourses fell, after extending four-and-a-half-year highs in the previous session, with weakness in oil and utility stocks weighing. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.8 per cent by mid afternoon with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt down one per cent, the CAC-40 in Paris off 0.7 per cent and the FTSE 100 in London down 0.8 per cent.

Crude oil fell for a second day, with a barrel of April delivery Nymex WTI down as much as 63 cents, or one per cent, to $60.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The oil price fall weighed on the oil sector with Austria’s OMV off four per cent to e53.06.

London equities moved lower yesterday as weakness in the mining and telecoms sectors took the shine off strong full-year results from Royal Bank of Scotland. The UK bank impressed investors with a 16 per cent rise in full-year profits and plans to return up to £1bn to shareholders via a share buy-back programme. Shares in RBS rose four per cent to £19.33.

The news helped move the banking sector higher with HBOS trading up 2.4 per cent to £10.81½ and Northern Rock up 0.7 per cent at £11.46½.

The Japanese stock market eked out another increase yesterday, with rises in many domestic sectors counterbalancing falls among commodity companies. The Nikkei 225 managed its fourth straight rise, though there was little sense of triumph, with an increase of only 0.1 per cent to 16,205.43. The Topix was up 0.2 per cent to 1,660.42.

Wall Street looked set to continue its volatile run yesterday as data showed that US economic growth advanced at its slowest rate in three years as consumer spending slowed.

Revised fourth-quarter gross domestic product data showed a 1.6 per cent annual increase, up from the 1.1 per cent initial estimate, but markedly slower than the 4.1 per cent growth seen in the third quarter.

An hour before the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up just one point, while S&P 500 futures were 2.16 points below fair value and Nasdaq futures were 2.7 points below fair value. Later in the session, the Conference Board was due to report on consumer confidence.

Europe’s bourses fell, after extending four-and-a-half-year highs in the previous session, with weakness in oil and utility stocks weighing. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.8 per cent by mid afternoon with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt down one per cent, the CAC-40 in Paris off 0.7 per cent and the FTSE 100 in London down 0.8 per cent.

Crude oil fell for a second day, with a barrel of April delivery Nymex WTI down as much as 63 cents, or one per cent, to $60.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The oil price fall weighed on the oil sector with Austria’s OMV off four per cent to e53.06.

London equities moved lower yesterday as weakness in the mining and telecoms sectors took the shine off strong full-year results from Royal Bank of Scotland. The UK bank impressed investors with a 16 per cent rise in full-year profits and plans to return up to £1bn to shareholders via a share buy-back programme. Shares in RBS rose four per cent to £19.33.

The news helped move the banking sector higher with HBOS trading up 2.4 per cent to £10.81½ and Northern Rock up 0.7 per cent at £11.46½.

The Japanese stock market eked out another increase yesterday, with rises in many domestic sectors counterbalancing falls among commodity companies. The Nikkei 225 managed its fourth straight rise, though there was little sense of triumph, with an increase of only 0.1 per cent to 16,205.43. The Topix was up 0.2 per cent to 1,660.42.