Adding to the caution, investors are looking ahead to the monthly government jobs report later today.
European main indices closed mixed, with London’s FTSE 100 losing 0.2% while Frankfurt and Paris climbed modestly.
“Rising oil prices have crimped some of the optimism seen earlier in the week, but the price is still much lower than a week ago, providing a positive tailwind as we move into the second week of August,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading and investing platform IG.
Alcohol giant Diageo jumped 7% to top London’s FTSE 100 index as it unveiled a cost-cutting plan to reverse sliding profits.
Shares in the German industrial giant Siemens fell 5% in Frankfurt, but then pulled more than half of that back, after its profit forecasts fell short of investors’ hopes.
In Asia, tech-heavy indices were weighed down by concerns over the profitability of artificial intelligence investments after disappointing earnings from US giants SanDisk and Western Digital.
Tech stocks staged a rally earlier this week after a month-long rout that slashed billions of dollars off valuations.
Seoul, which has led the rout since June, shed more than 4% yesterday, led by a 10% plunge in SK Hynix and Samsung’s loss of more than 6%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei, another tech-heavy index, lost nearly 1%, with chipmaker Kioxia down more than 10% and Tokyo Electron more than 5% lower.
Hong Kong, Wellington, Manila and Taipei fell, but Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore rose.
Key figures around 2020 GMT
New York – DOW: DOWN 0.9% at 53,885.10 (close)
New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.2% at 7709.96 (close)
New York – NASDAQ Composite: DOWN 0.1% at 26,348.35 (close)
London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2% at 10,867.89 points (close)
Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4% at 8699.71 (close)
Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1% at 26,140.18 (close)
Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9% at 65,683.26 (close)
Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.5% at 25,530.28 (close)
Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.6% at 3900.35 (close)
Seoul – Kospi: DOWN 4.6% at 6296.38 (close)
Dollar/yen: UP at ¥158.40 from ¥157.75 on Wednesday
Euro/dollar: DOWN at US$1.1524 from US$1.1553 ($1.96 from $1.98)
Pound/dollar: DOWN at US$1.3456 from US$1.3468
Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.65 pence from 85.78p
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 3.8% at US$82.49 a barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.8% at US$77.29 a barrel
– AFP