Weekend markets: Wall St falls for seventh week in eight

Stocks on Wall Street finished down for the seventh time in eight weeks, as worries about Italian banks, Greece's austerity measures and disappointing technology earnings overshadowed a bigger-than-expected rebound in durable-goods data.

The drop capped a turbulent week that started with strong gains on hopes that European leaders will prevent a Greek debt default. But the market couldn't sustain the rally as Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke issued a cautious economic outlook.

In Europe, several Italian bank stocks were suspended on Friday after a sudden drop in their share prices, while in the US orders for durable goods exceeded economists' expectations.

First-quarter gross domestic product inched up to 1.9%, a little better than expected but not enough to change the slowdown picture the economy faces.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 115.42 points, or 1%, to 11934.58, led lower by Cisco Systems, which dropped 3.5%.

The S&P 500 index dropped 1.2%, to 1268.45, as energy and tech stocks were the big decliners. Utilities were the only sector that traded in positive territory.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite fell 1.3% to 2652.89. Technology stocks struggled following disappointing quarterly reports from Oracle and Micron Technology.

Other markets: Europe falls, Asia advances
European stocks fell as banks came under pressure. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.1% to 263.98, having risen as much as 1.1% before the downturn in bank stocks.

In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 index fell 0.4% to 7121.38, with the decline capped by an unexpected rise in the Ifo Institute's gauge of German business sentiment.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index slipped 0.1% to 3784.80, while in London, the FTSE 100 index bucked the losing trend to close 0.4% higher at 5697.72.

Indian and Chinese stocks jumped on hopes of easing inflation pressures.

Prada's initial public offering ended with a slim gain, another sign of the weakening interest in stock sales in Hong Kong.
India's Sensex jumped 2.9% to 18240.68, its biggest one-day move since March 1, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 2.2%, to 2746.21, part of a 3.9% surge over the week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.9%, to 22,171.95; its 2.2% gain for the week was its first weekly gain since mid-May.

Korea's Kospi rose 1.7%, to 2090.81, part of a 2.9% increase for the week. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended 0.9% higher, at 9678.71, and its 3.5% climb over the week was the best in three months.

Commodities: Oil steady, gold slumps
Oil futures in New York finished almost unchanged, a day after major energy consumers said they would dip into strategic oil reserves.

But Brent crude, the European benchmark, tumbled to its lowest level since February.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery settled up 14USc at $US91.16 a barrel. Brent crude fell $US1.74, or 1.6%, to $US105.52, its lowest since February 18.

Gold slumped to a one-month low just above $US1500 as fresh concerns about Europe triggered steep declines in stocks and commodities.

Gold for June delivery fell $US19.60, or 1.3%, to $US1500.50 an ounce in New York, the lowest settlement since May 19.

That left it down 2.5% on the week. Prices have fallen in two of the past three weeks.

Currencies: Euro falls to lowest against Swiss franc
The euro sank to a record low of 1.1844 against the Swiss franc as a halt in the trading of some Italian bank shares fed fears that Europe's debt crisis might be spreading.

In New York trading, the euro weakened to $1.4189 from $1.4256 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥80.42 from ¥80.52.

The euro moved to ¥114.12 from ¥114.77. The UK pound sank to $1.5959 from $1.6006. The US dollar weakened to 0.8328 Swiss franc from 0.8387 franc.