Weekend markets: Quarter loses most in two years

Blue chip stocks on Wall Street ended the week with 240-point drop that capped the worst quarter in more than two years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 240.60 points, or 2.2%, to 10,913.38 after downbeat overseas economic data weighed on already poor investor sentiment.

The Friday session closed lows on its lows, as it did on several occasions over the past week.

The 12% drop for the third-quarter decline the biggest percentage fll in the Dow since the first quarter of 2009 and the worst in point terms since late 2008.

It was also the fifth straight monthly drop, the longest such streak since the six months ending in February 2009.

The S&P 500 index plunged 2.5% to 1131.42 and a quarterly loss at 14% while the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 2.6% to 2415.40 for a 13% quarterly fall.

For both indexes it was their worst quarterly point drop since late 2008.

A jump in the euro zone's annual inflation rate for September persuaded investors the European Central Bank was less likely to lower interest rates.

Other markets: Europe, Asia fall
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 1.2% to 226.18, bringing its quarterly loss to 17%.

Weak German retail sales and contracting Chinese manufacturing activity added to the higher inflation data.

The German DAX 30 index dropped 2.4% to 5502.02 and the French CAC 40 index fell 1.5% to 2981.96. Both ended the quarter down by more than 25%.

In London, the FTSE 100 index slid 1.3% to 5128.48, for a quarterly loss of 14%.

Asian stock markets ended their worst quarter in years with more losses.

China's shares fell to their lowest levels in nearly 30 months ahead of the National Day holiday that will close markets for all of the coming week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 2.3% to 17,592.41, led by losses in Chinese banks and property plays. The quarter’s loss hit 21% and accounted for most of the index's 24% loss this year.

China's Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3% to 2359.22 on Friday and slumped 16% for the quarter. India's Sensex lost 1.5% to 16,453.76 and is down 13% over the quarter.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended fractionally lower at 8700.29, bringing the quarter's losses to 11%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was slightly up at 4008.60, as was Korea's Kospi at 1769.65.

Commodities: Oil down, gold up
Oil futures fell 3.6% to their lowest level in a year as a steep drop in the last 25 minutes of the session took prices through the $US80-a-barrel threshold. .

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled down $US2.94, or 3.6%, at $US79.20 a barrel in New York, the lowest close since September 29, 2010.

Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange was down $US1.63, or 1.4%, at $US102.32 a barrel.

Gold futures ended slightly higher, though it was the worst month in three years.

The most active contract, for December delivery, settled up $US5.00, or 0.3%, at $US1622.30 an ounce in New York. The October settled up $US4.90, or 0.3%, at $US1620.40 an ounce.Currencies:

Currencies: Euro falls sharply
The euro fell 7.6% against the US dollar in the third quarter making it one of the biggest decliners among major currencies.

Late in the Friday session, the euro declined more than 1.5% versus the dollar and 1.3% against the yen.

The euro finished at $US1.3390 from $US1.3597 late on Thursday in New York and fell back to ¥103.12 from ¥104.48.

The dollar was at ¥77.09 from ¥76.83. The dollar was at 0.9065 Swiss franc from 0.8972.

The UK pound was at $US1.5587 from $US1.5627.