US stocks close mixed on worries

Wall Street closed narrowly mixed yesterday as investors began to worry about the weakening global economy, a poor start to the corporate earnings season and the health of ailing banking giant Citigroup, the Australian newspaper has reported.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.73 points (0.39 per cent) to 8441.24 at the closing bell, the fifth day of a losing streak, the newspaper said.

Nasdaq closed 0.5 per cent higher, up 7.67 points to 1546.46.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose by less than one point, to 871.14.

The newspaper reported that traders remained worried a day after US aluminum giant Alcoa kicked off the earnings season with a wider than expected net quarterly loss of $US1.19 billion.