Investors relaxed at week's end with stocks on Wall Street finishing on a positive note and up 1% for the five days.The Dow Jones Industrial Average remains its highest level since late September 2008. The index seesawed before ending with a 9.15-point ga
Investors relaxed at week’s end with stocks on Wall Street finishing on a positive note and up 1% for the five days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average remains its highest level since late September 2008. The index seesawed before ending with a 9.15-point gain, up 0.1%, at 10,850.36.
The Dow has risen four weeks in a row, the longest winning streak since August 2009. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 1166.59, up 0.6% for the week.
The Nasdaq Composite finished slightly down on the day at 2395.13 but was up 0.9% for the week.
Heading into the final week of trading for the first quarter, major indexes are poised to post solid quarterly gains. The Dow is up 4%, the S&P is up 4.6% and the Nasdaq is up 5.6%.
Other markets
Financial, health-care and telecom stocks put pressure on the Canadian sharemarket, reversing a rebound in materials and mining issues from the previous session.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell less than a point to close at 11957.3 on Friday. For the week, the index closed up less than 0.01%.
European shares backed away from annual highs on Friday as investors mulled details of a plan to support Greece.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index declined 0.6% to 263.28, snapping three straight sessions of gains that had pushed the index to its best levels since September 2008.
Of the major regional equity markets, the UK FTSE 100 index lost 0.4% to 5703.02, the German DAX index moved down 0.2% to 6120.05 and the French CAC-40 index declined 0.3% to 3988.93.
Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Oil futures settled lower, as a reduction in fourth-quarter US GDP added to concerns about future oil demand.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled 53USc lower, or 0.7%, at $US80 a barrel in New York, the lowest settlement since March 15. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange was recently down 34USc, or 0.4%, at $79.27 a barrel.
Gold futures closed higher, initially rising with the euro after an accord among European leaders to help Greece with its debt issues.
June gold rose $US11.30, or 1%, to settle at $US1105.40 an ounce in New York. The April contract climbed $US11.40, or 1%, to $US1104.30.
