SMALL GAINS: Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher Monday after drifting between small gains and losses for most of the day. Traders were waiting financial results from Alcoa Corp., whose release just after the closing bell marked the unofficial beginning of corporate earnings season.

GLOBAL SLOWDOWN: Analysts say the global economic slowdown is hurting U.S. multinational companies like Alcoa, which have soared because of demand from emerging markets.

WHITHER WHITE KNUCKLES? It was the fourth consecutive day of listless trading. The Dow Jones Industrial average stayed in a 75-point range. In the final five months of 2011, the average swing was 249 points.

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets were mixed early Thursday, following flat trading on Wall Street as renewed worries over Europe’s banking system and a strong yen weighed on investor sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5 percent to 8,514.03, while South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.2 percent to 1,870.96. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent to 18,787.21. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 fell 1.2 percent at 4,139.70.

Benchmarks in Singapore and Taiwan were higher while those in Malaysia and New Zealand were lower.

In Tokyo, the yen’s rise against the euro elicited fears of more pain ahead for Japanese exporters. The euro sank to 98.71 yen on Monday in European trading, which Japan’s Kyodo News said was an 11-year low. The euro remained under selling pressure as it hovered around 99.72 yen Thursday.

On Wednesday, European markets declined after another increase in Italy’s borrowing costs renewed worries about the continent’s efforts to restore confidence in its debt-hobbled governments. Additionally, UniCredit — Italy’s biggest bank — said it would offer stock at a 69 percent discount to raise cash. The size of the discount escalated worries about the state of Europe’s banking sector.

Stocks barely budged in the U.S. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 0.2 percent to close at 12,418.42. The Dow opened the year Tuesday with a 180-point gain that brought it to its highest level since July.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index inched up less than 0.1 percent to close at 1,277.30. The Nasdaq fell marginally to 2,648.36.

Benchmark oil for February delivery fell 35 cents to $102.87 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 26 cents to end at $103.22 per barrel on the Nymex on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.2930 from $1.2938 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar slipped to 76.72 yen from 76.75 yen.

FRANKFURT, Germany – Global stock markets opened a risk-filled new year still smarting from a rough 2011, as many exchanges remained closed. German and French stocks rose in light volumes as a a reading of manufacturing activity in Europe improved.

Germany’s DAX closed up 3 percent Monday at 6,075 while the French CAC-40, which ended 2011 17 percent lower, climbed 2 percent to 3,222. Stocks fell in South Korea and closed flat in Taiwan.

Trading was light with the New York, London and most Asian stock exchanges closed.

Investors appeared to be reassured by European purchasing managers survey index numbers that improved in December from November. Activity in the manufacturing sector was up, but at levels that still show a fifth straight month of contraction.

Many of the world’s leading indexes are coming off a down year. Britain’s FTSE was off 5.6 percent by year end, Japan’s Nikkei fell 17 percent to its lowest close since 1982, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 showed zero gain.

Data releases later in the week such as eurozone inflation on Wednesday and German factory orders and U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday will give traders more grist. The U.S. employment figure is expected to rise by some 150,000 after increasing 120,000 in November.

Markets face an uncertain first quarter as eurozone leaders try to get control of government debt woes that threaten to harm the global economy with another financial meltdown.

Much of the attention in coming weeks will center on Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy and the focal point of the eurozone’s struggle to deal with a crisis caused by heavy levels of government debt. Fears of default on those debts mean that bond investors demand ever-higher interest, making it a challenge for the new government of Prime Minister Mario Monti to roll over euro53 billion ($69 billion) in debt maturing in the first quarter. If a country can no longer borrow affordably to pay off bonds that are maturing, it faces eventual default or a bailout.

Debt woes may be compounded by at least a mild recession over the last quarter of 2011 and the first part of 2012.

In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi, which lost 11 percent of its value last year, closed nearly unchanged at 1,826.37. South Korea’s tech sector move higher, with Samsung Electronics up 2.1 percent and LG Electronics gaining 2.3 percent. Steel giant POSCO slid 1.1 percent and Korea Electric Power shed 1.8 percent.

Taiwan’s TAIEX, which was also open for business Monday, fell 1.7 percent to 6,952.21. Foxconn Technology, the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, which makes iPads and iPhones for Apple Inc., fell 0.9 percent. Personal computer maker Acer Inc. shed 2.3 percent.

The Asian-Pacific region’s major benchmarks, including Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Australia’s S&P ASX 200, were closed.

Last year was one that traders would prefer to forget: most Asian equity indexes closed out 2011 deeply in the red. The Nikkei in Tokyo ended the year at 8,429.45 — its lowest closing since 1982.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, closed Monday, endured a 21 percent loss for the year as the impact of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar stimulus faded and the government tightened curbs on lending and investment to cool blistering economic growth.

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AP Business Writer Pamela Sampson contributed to this report from Bangkok.

NEW YORK – Stocks are slipping Friday on the final trading day of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,264 in the first hour of trading. The S&P 500 fell 1 point at 1,262. It’s up just 0.3 percent for 2011. The Nasdaq fell 1 point to 2,612.

McDonald’s Corp. is shaping up to be the biggest winner in the Dow Jones industrial average this year with a gain of 31 percent. Bank of America Corp. was the worst performing stock in the Dow, down 59 percent.

For the year, utilities stocks rose the most of the ten sectors in the S&P 500. They were up 16 percent. Other winning groups were consumer staples and health care companies, both up 11 percent in 2011.

In Europe, many of the biggest markets ended down in 2011. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.1 percent at 5,572.28, meaning that it ended the year 5.6 percent lower. Germany’s DAX ended 0.9 percent higher at 5,898.35, a 14.7 percent decline over the year.

The CAC-40 in France was 0.2 percent higher at 3,134. Despite the rise, it’s still looking like it will end the year around 17 percent lower from where it started at 3,804.78.

There were no major economic reports scheduled for Friday. Trading has been quiet this week with many investors away on vacation. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange has been about half of its daily average.

Better news on the job market and home sales lifted stocks Thursday, pushing the Dow up 135 points. On Friday Ford reported that its sales topped 2 million this year for the first time since 2007. Ford rose 0.5 percent.

Markets will be closed Monday in observance of New Year’s Day.

In other corporate news:

• Sears Holdings Corp. fell 0.5 percent to $32.77 after Fitch Ratings downgraded the company’s credit rating to “junk.” Sears has plunged 30 percent this week after disclosing that it would close more than 100 Sears and Kmart stores because of weak holiday sales.

• Diamond Foods Inc. jumped 7 percent to $33.62. Rumors have been circulating that the hedge fund manager David Einhorn has acquired a stake in the food company that makes Emerald Nuts.

• AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, fell 19 cents to 33 cents. The company filed for bankruptcy protection last month. Late Thursday the company said its stock would be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange next week.

BANGKOK – Global stock markets were mixed Friday on 2011′s last trading day and turned in heavy losses for the year after Europe’s debt crisis and natural disasters battered a struggling global economy. Japan’s benchmark hit its lowest close in 29 years.

Benchmark oil hovered below $100 per barrel and the dollar weakened against the yen but rose against the euro.

Asian traders recorded gains for the day Friday but markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended the year with double-digit losses.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, after three straight days of losses, rose 0.4 percent to 8,429.45, but it was the lowest closing since 1982. China’s benchmark gained 1.2 percent to close at 2,199.42 — still, a 20 percent loss for the year.

European shares were steady or slightly down in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent at 5,555.92. Germany’s DAX was marginally down at 5,846.35 and France’s CAC-40 was nearly unchanged at 3,127.34.

Wall Street appeared headed for a lower closing, with Dow Jones industrial futures down 0.2 percent at 12,194 and S&P 500 futures slipping 0.2 percent to 1,255.40.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.2 percent to close at 18,434.39 — a precipitous slide of 19.7 percent from a year ago. Singapore’s Straits Times Index closed down 1 percent at 2,646.35 — a 17.5 percent dive.

Australia’s benchmark S&P ASX 200 ended the year at 4,140.4 — down 0.4 percent on the day and 14.5 percent lower for 2011. A day earlier, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed at 1,825.74 on Thursday — 11 percent down on its last trading session of the year Thursday.

Analysts said global stocks tumbled in lockstep, suffering from the effects of natural disasters, a wobbly recovery in the U.S. — and an escalating European debt crisis that has resisted repeated measures taken by the region’s governments and financial institutions.

“The big reason is Europe. Europe tried to muddle through without a real solution. They can save a small country like Greece, but they cannot save a big country like Italy. Two trillion euros in foreign debt — nobody in the world has that kind of money,” said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

“Europe will enter a lost decade, a decade of no solutions and no growth,” he said. “Maybe except in Germany, their machinery is still selling.”

Japan’s benchmark plunged after the March 11 tsunami and earthquake disaster that destroyed huge chunks of the island nation’s northeastern region, left 20,000 people dead or missing and set off the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Disaster damage extended to key suppliers for major companies like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp., which suffered production disruptions. The Thai flooding that followed caused similar problems for automakers, including Honda Motor Co., but on a smaller scale.

The Tokyo market also saw two big-name brands lose much of their value.

One was Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that runs Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, where at least three reactors went into meltdown after tsunami destroyed backup generators to keep power going at the plant.

Some officials say TEPCO may have to be nationalized because of ballooning losses and the costs to bring the reactors under control and compensate victims.

Another was camera and medical equipment maker Olympus Corp., whose offices have been raided by criminal investigators after fabricated accounting to cover up massive investment losses came to light.

A British executive, who has since resigned from the board, was first to draw attention to the dubious investments, and has become a celebrity figure raising questions about old-style Japanese management.

Across the board, Japanese companies have been slammed by the rising value of the yen, which erodes the value of revenue from exports.

The Nikkei lost nearly a fifth of its value over the past year. It nose-dived right after the disaster, recouped some of those losses in July, but then started a decline that has the benchmark hovering at below the March value.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 21 percent in 2011 as the impact of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar stimulus faded and the government tightened curbs on lending and investment to cool blistering economic growth.

The flood of state spending and bank lending after the 2008 crisis fueled a surge in real estate and stock prices. In 2010, Beijing responded by clamping down on credit and real estate speculation to cool inflation and soaring housing prices.

Beijing is trying to steer growth to a more sustainable level after 2010′s explosive 10.3 percent expansion. Growth eased to 9.1 percent in the three months ending in September, down from 9.5 percent the previous quarter.

Chinese leaders have promised to ease credit to help exporters and smaller companies cope with falling global demand and weaker domestic growth. But they say most controls will remain in place. That has disappointed stock traders who are hoping for interest rate cuts and looser controls on bank lending. They have responded in recent weeks by dumping stocks and moving some money to U.S. and European markets.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index slipped in the second half of the year as concerns over Europe accelerated, sending it to a 2011 low in early October before bouncing slightly to end the year at a 20 percent loss.

Hong Kong is Chinese territory, but its financial markets are open to foreign companies and investors, which made it a popular destination this year for foreign companies looking to go public, drawn by the prospect of raising their brand profiles with China’s newly wealthy as growth flags in their home markets.

Italian fashion house Prada was one of the biggest names to list in Hong Kong, with an initial public offering in June that raised $2.5 billion, making it the sixth-biggest IPO globally this year, according to deal tracking service Dealogic.

Other foreign companies that took out primary or secondary listings in Hong Kong include MGM China Holdings Ltd., the Macau casino arm of MGM Resorts International, luggage maker Samsonite S.A. and U.S. luxury handbag maker Coach Inc. However, the slumping market means share prices for many companies that went public are ending the year lower than IPO price.

Benchmark crude for February delivery fell 28 cents to $99.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 29 cents to settle at $99.65 in New York on Thursday.

In currency trading, the dollar fell to 77.58 yen from 77.65 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro fell to $1.2913 from $1.2939.

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AP Business Writers Joe McDonald, Yuri Kageyama and Kelvin Chan contributed from Beijing, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets strengthened Friday, the last day of a tumultuous trading year, after Wall Street posted gains following a spurt of positive U.S. economic data.

Benchmark oil rose above $100 per barrel and the dollar weakened against the yen and the euro.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, after three straight days of losses, rose 0.4 percent to 8,429.45. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.4 percent to 18,466.57. Benchmarks in mainland China, Malaysia, Indonesia and New Zealand were also higher.

Australia’s S&P ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 4,065.40. Taiwan and Singapore were also lower.

South Korea’s benchmark Kospi, whose last trading session of the year was Thursday, nosedived in lockstep with other key Asian indexes that suffered from the effects of natural disasters, a swelling European debt crisis, and a wobbly recovery in the U.S.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 21 percent in 2011 as the impact of Beijing’s multibillion-dollar stimulus faded and the government tightened curbs on lending and investment to cool blistering economic growth.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei lost a fifth of its value over the past year, starting with a plunge after the March 11 tsunami and earthquake disaster that destroyed huge chunks of the island nation’s northeastern region, left 20,000 people dead or missing and set off the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Disaster damage extended to key suppliers for major companies like Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony Corp., which suffered production disruptions. Later, severe flooding in Thailand caused similar problems for automakers, including Honda Motor Co., but on a smaller scale.

The Nikkei recouped some losses by July, but then started a decline that has the benchmark hovering at below the March value.

On Thursday on Wall Street, positive news on home sales and improved prospects for job growth sent stocks higher Thursday.

The four-week average of unemployment claims fell to a 3 1/2 year low, an indication that hiring could pick up. And the number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes in November rose to the highest level in 18 months, industry experts said.

The Dow closed at 12,287.04, a gain of 1.1 percent. The S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent, to 1,263.02. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 0.9 percent to 2,613.74.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose 30 cents to $99.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 29 cents to settle at $99.65 in New York on Thursday.

In currency trading, the euro rose slightly to $1.2940 from $1.2938 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.51 yen from 77.65 yen.

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AP Business Writers Joe McDonald and Yuri Kageyama contributed from Beijing and Tokyo.