Wall Street rises as Mubarak quits

Stocks on Wall Street rose to hit two-and-a-year-year highs after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down.

Crude oil futures prices fell to a two-month low of less than $US86 a barrel. Futures had climbed in recent weeks as turmoil in Egypt had sparked worries over whether the Suez Canal could be closed.

Earlier, some Asian sharemarkets fell the most in a week in nine months as President Mubarak doggedly hung on to his position, while European stocks rebounded as the resignation news broke.

At Wall Street's close (10am NZ time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 43.97 points, or 0.4%, to 12,273.26. Shortly after President Mubarak stepped down at 5am (NZ time), the measure leapt up to an intraday high of 12,278.26, a level not seen since June 2008. The Dow was up 1.4% for the week.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 2809.44 after hitting an intraday high not seen since 2007, while the S&P500 index also climbed 0.6% to 1329.15, reaching a 2½-year intraday high. The S&P500 rose 1.3% for the week, as did the Nasdaq Composite.

Other markets: Europe up, Asia mixed
European stocks reversed losses to end higher after the army assumed power in Egypt.

The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.4% to end at 287.99. It earlier hit an intraday low of 284.58. The index rose 0.7% for the week and it’s up nearly 3% so far this month.

Bucking the positive trend, shares of mobile-phone giant Nokia plunged more than 14% as the Finnish company said it would adopt Microsoft’s Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform. Nokia is under pressure for losing much of its cellphone market share to rivals such as Apple, Google and Asian manufacturers.

London's FTSE 100 Index gained 0.7% to 6062.90. Frankfurt's DAX advanced 0.4%% to 7371.20, its highest close since January 17, 2008, and Paris' CAC-40 Index added 0.2% to 4101.31.

Asian markets ended mixed as tensions rose in Egypt over President Mubarak’s refusal to quit.

Korean shares fell amid inflation concerns. The Kospi lost 1.6%, declining for a fourth straight session.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.7% and Taiwan's Taiex slumped 2.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.5% and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.3%.

Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.8%, Indonesian shares added 0.5%, Malaysia's KLCI shed 0.6% and India's Sensex gained 1.5%.

Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Commodities: Oil, gold down
Light, sweet crude for March delivery settled $US1.15, or 1.3%, lower at $US85.58 a barrel in New York. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded 58USc higher at $US101.45 a barrel.

The most actively traded gold contract, for April delivery,  settled 0.2% lower, or $US2.00, at $US1359.90 an ounce in New York.

Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The US dollar held on to its gains in whipsaw trading as President Mubarak’s resignation slowed haven investment flows.

The dollar also received a boost from constructive US economic data, while the euro has been constrained by uncertainty about the European Central Bank's succession plans and a lack of resolution of the euro-zone’s debt woes.

The euro was at $US1.3513, above the day's lows around $US1.3505 but still weaker from $US1.3594 late on Thursday in New York.

The dollar was at ¥3.55, up from ¥83.28, and the euro bought ¥112.90, down from ¥113.22.