Currency reports

US SHARES finished little changed yesterday on geopolitical worries over the sinking of a South Korean naval ship and after a final reading on fourth-quarter gross domestic product was revised lower.

Stocks initially rose after European Union leaders said they had agreed on a standby aid package for Greece, and after better-than-expected March US consumer sentiment data.

News of the ship sinking hit sentiment, analysts said, even though South Korea's government said it was not clear if North Korea was involved in the incident.

"With details still unclear about South Korea and the GDP number getting revised downward, it's no wonder that the market sold off a little," said Michael Pento at Delta Global Advisors in Huntington Beach, California.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.15 points, or 0.08 per cent, to close at 10,850.36 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 0.86 point, or 0.07 per cent, to finish at 1,166.59. But the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 2.28 points, or 0.10 per cent, to end at 2,395.13.

Eurozone leaders unveiled a deal late Thursday in which Athens would receive co-ordinated bilateral loans from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund if it faced severe difficulties.

The eurozone agreement relieved uncertainty about the European Union dealing with the problem, which has weighed on equities in recent weeks.

European shares closed lower, with drugmakers giving up some recent gains, and energy companies lower on weaker crude prices.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell 0.5 per cent to close at 1,077.52 points