Weekend markets: GDP rise fails Wall St

Blue-chip stocks on Wall Street finished in the red after a reading on domestic economic growth fell short of expectations.

GDP expanded at an annual rate of 2.8% in the December quarter, up from 1.8% in the third quarter. Though this was the fastest pace since the second quarter of 2010, it was short of the 3% expected 3%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 74 points, or 0.6%, to 12,660. The S&P 500 index fell 0.2% to 1316, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4%, to 2817.

Other markets: Europe down, Asia up
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1% to 255.40 as the cost of insuring Portugal's debt against default climbed to a record.

Mining and energy stocks fell in London, tracking a shift lower in precious- and base-metals prices. BP fell 2.6%, Rio Tinto 2.1% and BHP Billiton 1.1%, pushing the FTSE 100 index 1.1% lower to 5733.45.

Total fell 1.2% in Paris, helping drag the French CAC 40 index 1.3% lower at 3318.76. In Germany, the DAX 30 index was 0.4% down at 6511.98.

In Asia, Hong Kong and Indian benchmarks rose for a sixth consecutive day.

Indian and Australian markets opened after national holidays, while markets in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Taipei remained closed for New Year.

Weak earnings reports from Nintendo and NEC pushed the Nikkei Stock Average back 0.1% to 8841.22 in Tokyo, trimming the week's gain to 0.9%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.3% to 20,501.67 while the Korean Kospi firmed 0.4% to 1964.83.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex rose 0.9% to 17,233.98, its highest close since November 9, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 0.4% to 4288.40.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Crude-oil futures closed lower on the disappointing GDP data.

The March delivery contract ended 14USc lower at $US99.56 a barrel in New York. On the week, however, oil gained 1.3%, it’s first weekly gain in three weeks.

Gold futures advanced after early price weakness was met with buying interest that quickly pushed prices higher,.

The February delivery contract rose $5.50, or 0.3%, to end at $US1732.20 an ounce in New York, the highest settlement since early December.

It was gold’s third straight session of gains and one that took weekly gains to 4.1%.

Currencies: Euro continues climb
The euro rose to its highest level against the dollar since December 21.

It climbed above $1.32 and was at $US1.3209 in New Yorkcompared with $US1.3109 late on Thursday.

The dollar was at ¥76.73 compared with ¥77.45, while the euro was at ¥101.35 compared with ¥101.50.

The UK pound traded at $US1.5719 compared with $US1.5690, while the dollar bought 0.9132 Swiss franc from 0.9205 franc.