Weekend markets: Wall St bucks world rally

Stocks on Wall Street bucked a global rally in the wake a new agreement on a Greek financing plan.

Instead investors weighed Caterpillar's disappointing results, though stocks still notched a strong weekly advance.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.25 points, or 0.3%, to 12,681.16 and was up1.6% on the week, the third rise in the past four weeks. The Dow is up 2.2% for July and are just 1% from highest close of 2011, the 12,810.54 hit on April 29.

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.1% to 1345.02, leaving it up 2.2% for the week, the third advance in the past four weeks. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.9% to 2858.83. The index surged 2.5% this past week, the fourth rise in the past five weeks.

Other markets: Banks lead worldwide advance
Banks led a European stock advance on the plan to ease Greece's debt burden and contain the region's debt crisis. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.6% to 272.02, the third consecutive winning session.

The new rescue for Greece includes a plan for private creditors to voluntarily exchange existing Greek bonds for new bonds that will mature far in the future.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.6% to 5935.02, adding up to a 1.6% weekly advance. In Paris, the CAC-40 index rose 0.7% to 3842.70, giving it a weekly climb of 3.1%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 index rose 0.5% to 7326.39, leaving it up 1.5% for the week.

Asian stock markets rose sharply. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 1.2% to 10,132.11, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 1% to 4602.90, Korea's Kospi advanced 1.2% to 2171.23 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.1% to 22444.80.

The performance helped most of the major stock benchmarks in the region to end the week higher. The Nikkei gained 1.6% for the week, Australian benchmark rose 2.9% and the Hang Seng added 2.6%, the fourth advance in the past five weeks for all three.

But the Shanghai Composite Index finished the week with a 1.8% loss to 2770.79, snapping a four-week rally, amid worries about an economic slowdown and high inflation. Indian shares reversed a two-session decline. The Bombay Sensex rose 1.6% to end at 18,722.30, its highest closing level since July 8.

Commodities: Remain settles below $US100, gold up
Crude-oil futures climbed for a fourth straight day and settled at a fresh six-week high, on anticipation of higher prices next week. For the second day in a row crude topped $US100-a-barel in intraday trading but couldn't hold triple digits at the settlement amid lingering doubts about the strength of near-term oil demand in the US.

Light, sweet crude oil for September delivery in New York settled 74USc higher at $US99.87 a barrel, after hitting a high of $US100.19 a barrel, the highest level since June 10.

Gold futures rebounded above $US1600 an ounce ahead of the deadline to raise the US debt limit. Gold for August delivery climbed $US14.50, or 0.9%, to settle at $US1601.30 an ounce in New York. That is just short of the record settlement of $US1602.40 hit last Monday.

Currencies: Euro moves lower as sentiment turns
The euro fell against major currencies as the initial euphoria over Europe's solution to Greece's debt crisis wore off, suggesting the fundamental outlook for troubled euro-zone countries had not changed.

The euro was at $US1.4361 from $US1.4424 late on Thursday. The US dollar traded at ¥78.46 from ¥78.30, while the euro was at ¥112.67 from ¥112.98.

The UK pound bought $US1.6299 from $US1.6330. The dollar fetched 0.8196 Swiss franc from 0.8151 franc.