US stocks finished mostly lower with investors weighing thoughts of an interest-rate cut against crude oil topping $ 80 a barrel and a reduced forecast from Texas Instruments Inc., the world's largest maker of cell-phone chips. The focus is now clearly on the Fed when it meets on 18th to decide on the Fed rates. Investors widely expect the central bank next Tuesday to lower the benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point. The decision has not been guaranteed, though, and furthermore, many investors worry that a quarter-point rate reduction might not be enough to address investors' worries over the ongoing housing slump and credit market tightness.

Shares of Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. gained as did crude-oil futures, with the former rising 0.7% and the latter trading above $ 80 a barrel after U.S. government data showed supplies dropped more than 7 million barrels.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 16.74, or 0.13%, to 13,291.65, after weaving in and out of positive territory throughout the session. A day earlier, the blue-chip index soared 180 points. Broader stock indexes were narrowly mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.07, or less than 0.01%, to 1,471.56, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.40, or 0.21%, to 2,592.07.

Government bond prices slipped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.41% from 4.36% late Tuesday. The dollar extended its slide against the euro, hitting a new record low amid expectations of a rate cut from the Fed, which would make the U.S. currency a less attractive investment vehicle. The 13-nation euro rose as high as $ 1.3914 in late European trading, surpassing its previous record of $ 1.3852 reached July 24.

Nearly 1.3 billion shares were exchanged at the New York Stock Exchange, and declining stocks ahead of advancing issues 9 to 7. At the Nasdaq, 1.9 billion shares exchanged hands, and declining issues topped those advancing by a count of 3 to 1.


Indian ADRs end mixed; Satyam down 1.5%

Indian ADRs ended on a mixed note. Satyam and ICICI Bank were the major losers, down more than 1% each. In the technology pack, Infosys Technologies was up 0.66% at 47.01, Patni Computers was down 0.45% at 22.35, Satyam Computers was down 1.53% at 23.85, while Wipro ended the day 0.22% lower at 13.84.

In the non-technology pack, HDFC Bank was up 0.51% at 89.05, VSNL was down 0.54% at 20.15, ICICI Bank was down 1.28% at 43.79, MTNL was up 0.99% at 7.15, Tata Motors was up 0.35% at 17, Dr Reddy's Lab was down 0.31% at 16.06 and Sterlite was up 1.3% at 15.60.