dependent economy," said J.P. Morgan's Kemmsies. On Monday, U.S. light crude hit an all-time high of $55.67 a barrel as an industrial dispute in Norway threatened to further limit tight international crude supplies. Back on the corporate front, Dutch steel company Ispat International surged 16.7 percent on news that controlling shareholder Lakshmi Mittal was merging his steel assets and buying International Steel Group in a deal worth $17.8 billion. The merger will form the world's largest steel company. Irish drug group Warner Chilcott rose 2.3 percent after it said it had received a bid approach valuing the company at 1.53 billion pounds. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was 0.2 percent lower at a year low of 9,739 points by 1640 GMT, while the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to 1,910.1 points.
