Oil tops $US104 a barrel, hurting US stocks

Stocks on Wall Street fell but came short of wiping out gains recorded earlier in the week.

The declines came as crude-oil futures rose 2.5%, topping $US104 a barrel. The rally followed an upsurge of violence in Libya as Muammar Gaddafi’s embattled regime fought back to restore its control over areas where anti-government forces hold sway.

Investors feared the economic effects of higher oil prices more than they were impressed by a dramatic rise in US non-farm payrolls and a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.9%, the first time it has slipped below 9% since April 2009.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 88.32 points, or 0.72%, to 12,169.88, halting a two-day advance. Leading the drop, General Electric fell 1.8%, while Hewlett-Packard shed 1.4% and American Express declined 1.3%.

The Nasdaq Composite declined 14.07, or 0.5%, to 2784.67. The S&P 500 index fell 9.82, or 0.7%, to 1321.15, with all its sectors in negative territory.

The Dow rose 0.3% for the week while the S&P 500 edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite also added 0.1%.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
European bourses closed lower as higher oil prices came to the fore again.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index spent the morning in positive territory, hitting an intraday high of 285.4, but closed down 0.6% at 281.90, bringing the weekly loss to 0.8%.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index lost 1% to 4020.21 – 1.2% for the week – weighed down by a decline in defensive utility stocks, while in Frankfurt, the DAX 30 lost 0.7% to 7178.90, but was little changed for the week.

In London, the FTSE 100 index finished the day and the week down 0.2% at 5990.39.

Asian stock markets posted solid gains before concerns were renewed in other world markets over high crude-oil prices.

Korea's Kospi jumped 1.7% to 2004.68 on the back of continued foreign buying, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1% to 10,693.66 and China's Shanghai Composite index gained 1.4% to 2942.31.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.2% to 4864.28, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index advanced 1.2% to 23,408.86 and Taiwan's Taiex edged 0.5% higher to 8784.40.

Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude-oil futures settled above $US104 a barrel, spurred by reports of rising violence and reduced oil production in Libya.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up $US2.51, or 2.5%, at $US104.42 a barrel in New York, the highest settlement since September 26, 2008.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up $US1.18, or 1%, to $US115.97 a barrel.

Gold futures rallied and silver hit its highest point in nearly 31 years.

The gold contract for March delivery gained $US12.20, or 0.9%, to $US1,428.20 an ounce in New York. March silver futures hit $US35.385, its highest intraday price since March 6, 1980.

Currencies: Euro rises above $US1.40
The euro surged above $US1.40 for the first time since November, as investors reacted to a disappointing jobs report and continued to bet on expectations of euro-zone rate increases.

More upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East, meanwhile, pushed up oil prices and sent investors scrambling into the Swiss franc, gold and other safe-haven assets.

But the main market driver continued to be widening interest-rate differentials. Investors expect the European Central Bank to raise interest rates possibly as soon as April, while the US Federal Reserve is expected to hold on to its loose monetary policy much longer.

The euro was at $US1.3986 from $US1.3960 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥82.32 from ¥82.36, while the euro was at ¥115.13 from ¥114.97. The UK pound was at $US1.6271 from $US1.6269. The dollar was at 0.9259 Swiss franc from 0.9319 franc.