Wall St, dollar slip on U.S. growth worries

By Michael Connor

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks and the dollar slipped on Wednesday as government data signaled the U.S. economic expansion was slowing, while gains in the euro prompted a pullback in European stock markets.

A modest lift at the opening bell for U.S. stocks on news of a deal between Kraft Foods and Heinz Co to create North America's third-largest food company failed to hold, with stocks fading after data showed unexpectedly weak U.S. durable goods orders.

The Commerce Department data showed business investment spending plans fell for a sixth straight month in February, a report that could lead economists to lower their first-quarter U.S. growth estimates and cause the Federal Reserve to delay interest rate hikes.

"The dollar strength can sap earnings growth, but if you continue to see soft economic data here, a confirmation of decelerating growth, that will certainly affect the market," said Chad Morganlander, portfolio manager at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Wall Street's Dow Jones industrial average was down 88.71 points, or 0.49 percent, at 17,922.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 7.09 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,084.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 50.75 points, or 1.02 percent, at 4,943.97.

Kraft's shares were up more than $25 to $87.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top companies fell 0.7 percent, as the euro rose, in part because of data showing business in Germany was up.

Germany's Ifo index rose for the fifth successive month to its highest since July 2014, suggesting growth in Europe's largest economy rebounded again in the first quarter of 2015.

The data, based on a survey of 7,000 firms, was stronger than forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and helped push the euro back toward $1.10.

Euro strength hit the exporter-heavy German DAX index, however, prompting some profit-taking, analysts said.

The single currency was last at $1.0963, up 0.4 percent on the day and rising toward Tuesday's peak of $1.1029.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.3 percent to 96.932. The yen was up 0.1 percent at 119.60 to the dollar.

"Markets are still feeling the effects of the Fed stance from last week and a lot of long dollar positions are being flushed out," said Ian Gunner, portfolio manager at Altana Hard Currency Fund.

U.S. interest rates were little changed, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yielding a near flat 1.885 percent.

Brent crude oil rose 51 cents to $55.62 a barrel, having fallen earlier on mounting evidence that China's strategic oil reserves may be nearly full and with U.S. reserves also ballooning. U.S. crude added 54 cents to $48.05.

Gold slipped but kept close to a 2 1/2-week high on the growing expectation the Fed will not raise rates until September. Spot gold was last at $1,195.80 an ounce.

(Reporting By Michael Connor in New York, additional reporting; by Blaise Robinson in Paris, Shinichi Saoshiro in Tokyo and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Catherine Evan and Dan Grebler)