US stocks edged lower as investors failed to be enthused by consumer-confidence and home-price data that were in line with economists' expectations.

Major benchmarks were unchanged for much of the day but drifted to session lows in the minutes before the close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.9 points, or 0.33%, to 13197.73. The blue chips had rallied on Monday, recouping last week's retreat in a single session.

Standard & Poor's 500-stock index slipped 3.99 points, or 0.28%, to 1412.52. Financial and energy stocks paced the decline. Utilities and health care, sectors typically seen as defensive, rose. The Nasdaq Composite retreated 2.22 points, or less than 0.1%, to 3120.35.

US consumers in March remained confident about the economy and labour markets, according to a report by the Conference Board. The private research group's index dropped to 70.2 in March from an upwardly revised February reading of 71.6, which was the highest in a year.

The "present situation" index, a gauge of consumers' assessment of current economic conditions, rose to 51, the highest score since September 2008.

US home prices fell in January from a month earlier, hitting 2003 levels, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index. The data signal the housing market remains sluggish despite soft prices and historically low interest rates. The Case-Shiller index of 10 major metropolitan areas declined 0.8%, while the 20-city index fell by the same percentage.

In other economic news, activity among manufacturers in the central Atlantic region weakened but remained in expansion territory for the fourth-straight month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond reported.

In corporate news, shares of Lennar jumped 4.7% after the home builder's fiscal first-quarter earnings and revenue topped forecasts. In addition, gross-margin percentage on home sales improved over year-earlier levels on the back of an increase in average sales prices and lower valuation adjustments. Fellow home builder PulteGroup climbed 3.1%.

Ista Pharmaceuticals leapt 7.9% after the eye-care company agreed to be acquired by privately held Bausch + Lomb, which is offering more than US$380 million for Ista's outstanding shares.

Wabash National surged 9.5% as the truck-trailer producer said it will continue its diversification strategy by purchasing Walker Group Holdings, a maker of liquid-transportation systems, for US$360 million.

Apollo Group slumped 8.5%. The private-education provider swung to a better-than-expected fiscal second-quarter profit following a year-earlier period hampered by write-downs, but enrolment weakness continued to pressure revenue.

For Australian ADRs listed on the NYSE, BHP Billiton slid $1.13 (1.56%) to $71.48, ResMed slipped 49 cents (1.53%) to $31.50, Telstra Corporation weakened 15 cents (0.88%) to $16.94, Telecom Corporation of NZ climbed 18 cents (1.83%) to $10.04 and Westpac fell 42 cents (0.37%) to $113.10.

The US dollar edged higher against most major rivals, finding support following a dip in March consumer confidence and rebounding a day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke implied the central bank was in no hurry to exit its ultra-easy monetary policy.

US Treasury bond prices posted a broad rally as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came to the rescue by scaring off negative bets on the market. At 7:45AM (AEST), the 10-year US Treasury note was 2.18% and the 5-year note was 1.02%.

European stock markets ended lower as US consumer confidence data disappointed, while French oil group Total SA tumbled as concerns mounted over a gas leak at a North Sea platform.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.5% to close at 266.92, off a session high of 270.06. The French CAC 40 index under performed, falling 0.9% to 3,469.59, the UK's FTSE 100 index ended 0.6% lower at 5,869.55, while Germany's DAX 30 index closed flat at 7,078.90.

French oil group Total fell 6% amid a gas leak that started Sunday in the Elgin field in the North Sea and was still ongoing.

Banks rose in the UK. Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC posted the biggest surge, up 3.3%. Late Monday, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported that the UK government is in talks with Abu Dhabi's sovereign-wealth fund to sell up to a third of its stake in RBS by Christmas.

Barclays PLC gained 1.5% as HSBC Holdings PLC added 0.6%.

BP PLC fell 2.2%. The oil group said it has agreed to sell its interest in some UK North Sea gas assets to Perenco UK Ltd. for US$400 million in cash as part of a divesting strategy.

Rio Tinto increased 22.00 pence (0.65%) to 3,416.17 pence and BHP Billiton weakened 2.00 pence (0.1%) to 1,946.19 pence.

In Germany, Volkswagen AG added 1.1% after TrueCar.com said it sees March US sales for the car maker up 33.1% year-on-year.

Asian stock markets ended higher, with Japanese shares climbing to their highest level in more than a year after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled US interest rates may remain at the current ultra-low levels.

Spurred by strong overnight gains on Wall Street and a weaker yen, the Nikkei Stock Average ended at 10,255.15, jumping 2.4% from the previous day's close for its biggest percentage gain in more than five months.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.8%, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.0%, and Taiwan's Taiex advanced 0.8%.

Diverging from the regional trend, China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.2%. Data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed the nation's largest industrial groups saw their net income drop 5.2% in the first two months of the year from the year-earlier period.

The yen's weakness after Bernanke's remarks supported many major Japanese exporters; Toyota Motor Corp. climbed 3.6% and Sony Corp. added 3.1%.

Honda Motor gained 3.5% after a Nikkei report that the car maker would build a new Thailand plant that was less likely to be affected by floods than its existing facility.

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange, pressured somewhat by a firmer US dollar and struggling for traction in either direction amid a lack of fresh macroeconomic cues.

Oil squeezed out a modest gain, but struggled to find direction as traders awaited government inventory data for further guidance.

Gold ended near unchanged, with markets dominated by trading linked to gold options expiration on the Comex and shifts in the currency markets.