Markets: Stocks fall ahead of Spanish bailout

Stocks on Wall Street fell ahead of the long holiday weekend as reports of weakness in Spain underlined anxiety about the eurozone.

These outweighed a better-than-expected reading on US consumer confidence. The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index indicated that domestic consumers are more upbeat than they have been since the most recent US recession.

In Spain, the fourth largest bank, Bankia, was suspended for trading ahead of a recapitalisation plan. The government later announced it would inject up to $US24 billion in the country’s largest bank bailout.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.92 points, or 0.6%, to 12,454.83. Caterpillar fell 1.6% while IBM dropped 0.9%. Nevertheless, the blue-chip benchmark capped its first weekly gain this month, mostly due to a rally over upbeat sentiment about Europe on Monday.

The S&P 500 index dropped 0.2% to 1317.82 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%, to 2837.53.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stock markets ended a choppy session with small gains.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2% to 242.49, capping its first weekly gain in the last four weeks.

Investors were inspired by data showing consumer confidence is stabilising in Germany.

The German DAX 30 index gained 0.4% to 6339.94, the French CAC 40 index added 0.3% to 3047.94 and the UK’s FTSE 100 index rose fractionally to 5351.53.

Australia's benchmark index closed at a six-month low and the Shanghai Composite Index gave way for the 11th time in 15 sessions.

The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7% to 4029.20, its lowest close since November 25 and its seventh loss in the last nine sessions. It has slid 8.4% so far this month.

China's Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.7% to 2333.55 and is down 2.6% for May.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index spent most of the day down, only to reverse after a strong opening in Europe and closed up 0.3% at 18713.41.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average edged up 0.2% to 8580.39 but it still lost 0.4% for the week, its eighth weekly decline.

Korea's Kospi firmed 0.5% to 1824.17, part of its 2.3% climb over the week.

Currencies: Euro, pound recover
The euro and higher-yielding currencies rebounded from lows seen earlier this week.

The euro was at $US1.2527 from $US1.2533 late on Thursday and traded at 1.2011 Swiss francs compared with 1.2014 francs.

The US dollar was trading at ¥79.58 from ¥79.60 and it was at 0.9588 franc from 0.9585 franc.

Sterling recovered from a week of sharp losses, The pound was at $US1.5668 compared with $US1.5670. It hit a day's high at $US1.5685.

The Australian dollar was approaching the 98USc level, having slumped as low as 96.89USc on Wednesday.