Overnight, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index closed down 4.36 points, or 0.31 per cent, to close at 1,408.75. The Nasdaq Composite lost 8.77 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 2981.70 on Wednesday. In London, the FTSE-100 Index added 6.87 points, or 0.12 per cent, to end at 5,804.78.

Hot Stocks of the Day:

Dongfang Electric (1072.HK), Shanghai Electric (2727.HK)
China will only approve a small number of nuclear reactors to be build in the nation's coastal areas, while inland area will not be allowed to build nuclear projects before 2015, the government said on Wednesday.

Anhui Conch Cement (0914.HK)
The Chinese cement maker said third-quarter net profit slumped 66.75 per cent year-on-year due to a "large decrease" in selling prices.

Angang Steel (0347.HK)
The Chinese steel maker recorded a 1.19 billion yuan net third-quarter loss, compared with a 19 million yuan net profit  a year earlier.

CITIC Bank (0998.HK)
An unidentified shareholder of the bank has offered US$235 million worth of the bank's shares for sale at a discount of up to 3.15 percent, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing a term sheet. The shares are valued at between HK$4.00-HK$4.07 each.

Hopewell Highway Infrastructure (0737.HK)
The Chinese tollway operator said it would offer 120 million shares worth 386.4 million yuan at 3.22 yuan each, representing a 6.9 percent discount to its closing price of HK$4.29 on Monday. Trading of the stock was suspended on Monday and is expected to resume on Thursday.