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New York / London - Global shares firmed on Wednesday as signs of economic resilience in Europe and underlying strength in the US economy offset concerns about the uncertain prospects for a bailout of Greece, a challenge that weighed on the euro.
Overall US industrial output was unexpectedly flat in January, but the second straight month of gains in the manufacturing component pointed to a strengthening economy, data from the Federal Reserve showed.
"Clearly the headline (overall) number is disappointing. However, the healthy upward revision to December on balance is offsetting some of the headline disappointment," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.
"Overall the vast majority of data recently has been positive, so I am not too concerned about this one outlier."
Also lifting sentiment was a New York Federal Reserve report that showed a gauge of manufacturing in New York state picked up in February to its highest level in more than 1-1/2 years, although the pace of new orders slowed.
The Dow and S&P 500 traded near break-even, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq was higher on better-than-expected earnings from Comcast Corp and another surge in Apple Inc.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 37.09 points, or 0.29%, at 12 841.19. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.52 points, or 0.04%, at 1 351.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 8.35 points, or 0.28%, at 2 940.18.
While the euro zone economy shrank at the end of 2011 and will flirt with a mild recession under the weight of the sovereign debt crisis, strength in France and resilience in Germany provided investors some optimism.
German gross domestic product contracted 0.2% in the fourth quarter, topping forecasts, while the French economy grew more than expected as corporate investment picked up and domestic consumption remain solid.
But European shares pared gains after eurozone sources said officials were considering delaying parts or even all of the second bailout program for Greece possibly until after the country holds elections in April.
Bank stocks, which have been a barometer of investment sentiment due to their exposure to euro zone debt, pared gains, although the STOXX Europe 600 Banks index was still up 1.2%.
"It's a never-ending spiral of mistrust and ping pong," said Gerard Lane, equity strategist at Shore Capital. "For general sentiment, it's quite poor."
The FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.3% at 1 073.36, paring earlier gains that had pushed the index of leading European shares to a session high of 1 080.30.
The euro slid to its lowest in more than a week against the dollar after on news of the possible delay to the bailout.
The single currency eased 0.4%, falling back below $1.31 to $1.3081.
Since late December the European Central Bank has moved to supply banks with large amounts of cheap money, the U.S. Federal Reserve has committed to keeping rates low until 2014 and the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England have announced further policy easing measures to help the global economy recover.
The central bank moves have underpinned demand for equities and helped lift the MSCI world equity index by over nine percent for the year to date. The index was up 0.5% on Wednesday.
Oil hit a six-month high near $120 a barrel as concern about supply from Iran, other Middle East producers and Africa outweighed those about the health of the global economy.
Brent crude was up $1.55 at $118.90 a barrel. U.S. crude rose 84 cents to $101.58.
