Markets week: Relief ends wild ride

One of the wildest weeks in world sharemarkets ended in an anticlimax as stocks rose for a second session.

On Wall Street, an upbeat retail sales report trumped a weak reading on consumer confidence.

It was the first time back-to-back gains had been made in more than a month.

It was also historic for the Dow Jones Industrial Index moving by more than 400 points in one direction or another for four consecutive trading days; this had not happened before in the index's 115-year history.

The week’s volatility was the most since the depths of the financial crisis in late 2008. Investors this time were worried about a possible double-dip recession in the US and the euro zone's debt crisis spreading to bigger members such as France and Italy.

The Dow closed up 125.71 points, or 1.1%, to 11,269.02 after surging 423 points on Thursday. For the week, the Dow was down 1.5%. Boeing helped lead the way, rising 4.4%. Hewlett-Packard gained 3.6% and Caterpillar rose 3.5%.

The S&P 500 index gained 0.5%, to 1178.81, led by industrial and consumer discretionary stocks. The index hasn't had two consecutive sessions of gains since July 22.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 2507.98.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia down
European markets rallied for a second session after several countries introduced bans on short-selling of stocks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index climbed 3% to end at 237.49. It extended gains in afternoon trade after the encouraging US retail sales report.

Bank stocks remained the focus of attention after France, Spain, Italy and Belgium all introduced various short-selling bans.

BNP Paribas rose 4.2% and Natixis added 9.2%, helping lift the French CAC 40 index 4% to 3213.88.

Banks in other markets were also sharply higher, including a 5.3% jump for Barclays in London, which helped boost the FTSE 100 index 3% to 5320.03.

Barclays shares had lost a third of their value from the start of July through to Thursday's close. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 index rose 3.5% to 5997.74.

Asian stock markets ended mixed as investors remained cautious throughout the week's turmoil.

In Japan, investors focused on the market's own problems: the strong yen and uncertainty about demand for Japanese products overseas.

The Nikkei Stock Average ended down 0.2% at 8963.72, after trading 1% higher in the early minutes of the session. It dropped 3.6% for the week and is down 8.8% in August.

Korea's Kospi dropped 1.3% to 1793.31, part of a 7.7% plunge for the week that took the benchmark to its lowest close since September 9, 2010.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index fell 1.3% to 16,839.63, its lowest close since June 9, 2010. It lost 2.7% over the week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged up 0.1% to 19,620.01, well off its highs of the day and still down 6.3% for the week.

The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.5% to 2593.17, but still fell for the fourth consecutive week.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.8% to 4172.60, part of its first weekly gain in the last three weeks. Even so, it is down 5.7% in August.

Commodities: Oil, gold edge lower
Crude-oil futures prices slipped 1.7% in a week when traders tried to come to terms with the struggling US economy.

Light, sweet crude oil for September delivery in New York Mercantile Exchange fell 34USc, or 0.4%, to settle at $US85.38 a barrel. ICE Brent crude oil for September delivery settled one cent higher at $US108.03 a barrel.

Gold logged its second day of losses as some investors cashed in recent gains.

The contract for August delivery eased $US8.60, or 0.5%, to settle at $US1740.20 in New York. Gold gained $US91.40 for the week, the largest weekly dollar gain since September 19, 2008, shortly after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

Currencies: Swiss franc falls further
Speculation that Switzerland's central bank could take further measures to weaken the Swiss franc dragged the currency down against its major rivals.

Other currencies stabilised after a week of roller-coaster trading.

The Swiss franc fell more than 2% intraday against both the dollar and the euro.

The euro was at $US1.4251 from $US1.4239 late on Thursday. The dollar traded at ¥76.83 from ¥76.84, while the euro was at ¥109.48 from ¥109.29.

The UK pound bought $US1.6280 from $US1.6238. The dollar fetched 0.7780 franc from 0.7603 franc.