US stocks close higher in second weekly loss

Stocks on Wall Street climbed as investors weighed the effects of Japan’s strongest earthquake to date and relief that protests in Saudi Arabia were relatively orderly.

Saudi Arabia's so-called Day of Rage was more peaceful than investors had been fearing, removing fears of further disruption to the world oil market. Oil futures fell as a result.

Meanwhile, Japan faces an enormous reconstruction programme after a tsunami swept over mainly farmland along the northeast coast; stocks rose in companies that will benefit from higher demand.

Industrial giants 3M and Caterpillar led the climb, rising 1.8% and 1.5%. Both are considered indicators for the global economy. Exxon Mobil was also strong, up 0.9%, while Alcoa added 1.5% and Chevron gained 0.9%.

Latest US economic data was mixed. Retail sales rose less than expected and consumer sentiment dropped back in early March as expectations plunged. But business sales increased in January by the largest amount in 10 months.

At the close (10am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 59.79 points, or 0.5%, to 12,044.40, recovering some of Thursday’s large losses but posting a 1.0% loss for the week.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5% to 2715.61, down 2.5% for the week, while the S&P 500 index added 0.7% to 1304.28 for a 1.3% weekly loss. It is the second week in which all three main indices lost ground.

Other markets: Europe, Asia down
European stocks closed at their lowest level this year, as insurance stocks tumbled in reaction to the Japanese earthquake.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.9% to 275.42, its lowest close since December 8. The benchmark ended the week down 2.3% for the week, which was marked by euro-zone debt concerns and instability in the Middle East and North Africa.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index fell 0.9% to 3928.68, the DAX 30 in Frankfurt declined 1.2% to 6981.49 and the FTSE 100 shed 0.3% to 5828.67 in London.

The FTSE’s 4.2% slump over the week was the worst showing among the three major national indexes and its sharpest weekly loss since the week ended July 2.

Japanese stocks fell sharply as the earthquake struck near the end of trading. It exacerbated broad Asian-market weakness brought on by higher-than-expected inflation in China.

The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.7% to 10,254.43, its lowest close since January 31. It sank 4.1% for the week, its worst since the week ending July 2.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.6% to 23,249.78, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.8% to 2933.80 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.2% to 4644.83. All of the benchmarks were lower on the week.

India’s Sensex fell 153.89 points, or 0.8%, to 18,174.09, its lowest close this month. The index lost 1.7% for the week, its seventh weekly loss in the last 10 weeks.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude futures settled lower after the Japanese earthquake created expectations for a drop in demand in the world's third-largest oil consumer.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell as low as $US99.01 a barrel early in the session before recovering to settle $US1.54, or 1.5%, lower at $US101.16 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures fell $US1.59 to $US113.84 a barrel.

Gold futures rose modestly. The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, rose $US9.30, or 0.7%, to settle at $US1421.80 an ounce.

Currencies: Yen rises after quake
The yen jumped by the most since December against the US dollar and the euro as traders anticipated Japanese investors and businesses will shift more assets back into the yen.

The dollar fell to ¥81.88, down more than 1% from ¥82.95 late on Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar has lost 0.5% this week but was up 0.9% this year.

The euro dropped at least 1% against the yen and last traded at ¥113.77, down about 0.7% from Thursday. The euro has dropped 1.2% against the yen from last Friday, after being in positive territory most of the week.

The UK pound was at $US1.6049, from $US1.6051, and the dollar was at 0.9290 Swiss franc from 0.9320 franc.