Volatile week ends strongly on Wall Street

Stocks on Wall Street ended a volatile week with another surge as a ceasefire was declared in Libya and currency interventions helped relieve pressure on Japan's disaster-stricken economy.

But probably the biggest push for investors came from some big US banks raising their dividends.

JP Morgan Chase jumped 2.7% after raising its dividend to 25USc a share, up from 5USc. American Express rose 1.7% after gaining regulators' approval for capital distribution plans. Wells Fargo rose 1.5% after raising its dividend to 12USc from 5USc.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 83.85 points, or 0.7%, to close at 11,858.44 in a week where blue chips moved briefly into negative territory for the year on Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.3% higher at 2643.67 and the S&P 500 index rose 0.4% to 1279.20, led by financial shares.

Other markets: Japan recovers on yen move
Tokyo stocks rallied after some of the Group of Seven countries agreed to put their weight behind Japan's effort to interrupt the yen's surge. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.7% to 9206.75, but finished the week down 10.2%.

In Europe, stocks ended with small gains on the day but fell nearly 3% for the week. The Stoxx Europe 600 index gained 0.2% to end at 267.63.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 5718.13 but slid 1.9% for the week, its fourth straight weekly decline.

The German DAX 30 index rose 0.1% to 6664.40, barely denting its 4.5% week drop, while in France the CAC 40 index added 0.6% to 3810.22, but lost 3% for the week.

Energy stocks advanced in Asia as the UN authorised military action against Libya and the government responded with a ceasefire.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.6% to 4626.44, paring its loss for the week to 0.4%.

China’s Shanghai Composite finished the week at 2906.89, down 0.9% from a week earlier, its third weekly loss in the past four.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 4.1% for the week to 22,300.23, marking two straight week of declines.

Korea's Kospi gained 1.1% to 1981.13, climbing 1.3% for the week, its 11th gain in the past 12 weeks. India's Sensex fell 1.5% to 17,878.81, losing 2.5% for the week.

Commodities: Oil eases, gold rises
Crude prices fell sharply after Libyan forces called a cease-fire though they bounced back in a volatile day’s trading.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled just 35USc at $101.07 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled down 97USc at $113.93 a barrel.

Gold prices rose as worries about Japan and the Group of Seven's attempts to weaken the yen outweighed the calming influence of a ceasefire in Libya.

The most actively traded contract, for April delivery, gained $US11.90, or 0.9%, to settle at $US1416.10 an ounce.

Currencies: Central banks curb yen’s rise
The yen stabilised after a concerted push by the world's major central banks.

The precise scope of the intervention isn't known, but traders estimated the yen selling was in the neighborhood of $US20 billion.

After the yen hit an all-time high in chaotic trading two days earlier, it fell more than 3% against the US dollar. As the Bank of Japan first stepped in, the yen quickly moved from around ¥79 to the dollar to nearly ¥82 before settling back around ¥81. Late on Friday, the dollar was trading at ¥80.76.

The euro was at $US1.4168 from $US1.4022 late on Thursday, the dollar was at ¥80.76 versus ¥78.95, and the euro was at ¥114.41 from ¥110.70.

The UK pound was at $US1.6224 from $US1.6139. The dollar was at 0.9030 Swiss franc from 0.8990 franc.