US stocks gain but lose most in week this year

Stocks on Wall Street rose, ending three straight days of losses but still posted the biggest weekly drop of the year.

Surges in Intel and Boeing shaved off only a portion of the week's losses after turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa sent oil prices to their highest levels in more than two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 61.95 points, or 0.5%, at 12,130.45 but with its biggest weekly point drop since August 13, 2010. Boeing climbed 2.2% after the landing the US Air Force aerial-refuelling tanker deal valued at more than $US30 billion.

Intel was also strong, rising 2.7%, after Citigroup analysts said sales of personal computers could pick up in March. Shares of rivals AMD gained 2.1% Marvell 5%.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6% to 2781.05. The S&P 500 index rose 1.1% to 1319.88 but had its worst week since November 12, 2010.

Other markets: Europe, Asia up
European benchmarks snapped five-session losing streak to finish decidedly higher as investors chose to focus on oil trading below $US100 a barrel.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 1.3% to 284.12, paring losses for the week to 2.4%. The Italian FTSE MIB gained 1.8% to 22,349.71. Italy is the European country with the closest ties to Libya, and its stock market had suffered because of the turmoil.

Most Asian stocks advanced on Friday as investors temporarily looked past turmoil in the Mideast and North Africa to snap up beaten-down shares after an overnight retreat in crude-oil prices.

France's CAC 40 index advanced 1.5% to 4070.38, led by a 5.5% gain for Saint-Gobain, Europe's largest supplier of building materials. EADS, makers of the Airbus, shed 0.5% after losing the flying tanker contract to Boeing.

In Germany, the DAX 30 benchmark gained 0.8% to 7185.17, but slid 3.3% for the week and in the UK the FTSE 100 climbed 1.4% to 6001.20, cutting its loss for the week to 1.3%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 4836.53 for its first advance in six sessions, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and Korea's Kospi ended a four-day losing streak, rising 1.8% to 23.102.37 and 0.7% to 1963.43 respectively.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 0.7% to 10,526.76 after losing ground the previous three days, while Taiwan's Taiex rose 0.7% to 8599.65.

China's Shanghai Composite ended little changed at 2878.57 after moving in both directions, while India's Sensex rose 0.4% to 17,700.91 in choppy trade.

Commodities: Oil up
Oil prices finished the week up 14% with the surge coming amid a roller-coaster trading environment due to falling oil production in Libya where the embattled Gaddafi regime has lost control of most of the country..

Friday's session was muted compared with Thursday when prices whipsawed in an $US8 range, reaching 2½-year highs above $103 a barrel.

Saudi Arabia and a group of major oil-consuming nations said they had plenty of oil available, however, sending futures down.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled up 60US at $US97.88 a barrel. Brent crude futures on the ICE settled 78USc higher at $112.14 a barrel.

Currencies: Euro, dollar down
The euro slipped broadly, losing some of this week's gains, as uncertainty over Ireland's next government reminded markets of the euro zone's unresolved debt crisis.

The euro was at $US1.3750 from $US1.3802 late on Thursday and at ¥112.56 from ¥113.42. The euro was nearly flat versus the Swiss franc, which has been a safe-haven currency of choice this week along with the yen.

Meanwhile, the US dollar slipped to ¥81.85 from ¥81.87, while the pound was at $US1.6089 from $US1.6138.