Markets: Wall St snaps worst losing streak this year

Stocks on Wall Street ended a three-session slide that knocked benchmarks from multi-year highs.

But over the week, the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500 notched their biggest weekly declines this year.

The drop was triggered by warnings of lower demand for iron ore by China, which reported signs of a drop in manufacturing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 34.59 points, or 0.3%, to 13,080.73. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.3%, to 1397.11.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%, to 3067.92. The Nasdaq rose for the sixth straight week, its longest such streak since April 2010.

For the week, the Dow fell 1.2%, and the S&P 500 declined 0.5%, the steepest point and percentage drops for both since December.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European stock markets edged higher as banks and miners generally gained ground. But the weekly loss was the biggest this year.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.1% to 265.65, ending a four-day losing streak. For the week, however, it lost 2.5%, its steepest weekly decline since mid-December.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 index added 0.2% to 5854.89. In France, banks helped the CAC 40 index creep up 0.1% to 3476.18, while in Germany, the DAX 30 index rose 0.2% to 6995.62.

In Asia, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo benchmarks posted their biggest weekly losses of the year.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.1% to 2349.54 points. It fell 2.3% for the week, its worst weekly performance this year; it has gained 6.8% so far this year.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1.1% to 20,668.80, extending its loss for the week to 3%, the biggest in four months. It is still up 12% this year.

Japan’s Nikkei also lost 1.1% to 10,011.47, accounting for most of its 1.2% decline over the week. It has surged 18% this year.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.1% to 4270.40 while Korea's Kospi edged up fractionally to 2026.83, snapping a three-session losing streak.

India's Sensex gained 1% to 17,361.74 but still lost 0.6% over the week, its fifth consecutive weekly loss.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude futures closed higher, buoyed by concerns about global supplies after an unconfirmed reported drop in Iranian oil exports.

Oil for May delivery rose $US1.52, or 1.4%, to settle at $US106.87 a barrel in New York.

Prices ended the week 0.2% lower versus the week-ago close for the April contract, which was the front-month contract last Friday.

Gold futures rebounded from sharp losses in Thursday’s session, tacking on nearly $US20 an ounce to finish higher for the week.

Gold for April delivery rose $US19.90, or 1.2%, to settle at $US1662.40 an ounce in New York, its highest settlement price since Monday. Prices ended 0.4%, or $6.60, higher for the week.

Currencies: US dollar falls
The US dollar stumbled against the euro and yen after a US housing report cast doubt on the strength of the economic turnaround.

New home sales in the US fell for the second consecutive month in February, helping push the euro up to its highest level in three weeks.

The dollar tumbled against the yen to below ¥82 for the first time since March 13 and also touched its lowest level for the month against the Swiss franc.

The euro was at $US1.3270 from $US1.3201 late on Thursday.

The dollar was at ¥82.35 from ¥82.54 and at 0.9081 Swiss franc from 0.9134.

The pound bought $US1.5869 from $US1.5821.