World markets: Wall Street eases to weekly loss
The benchmark indexes had their first weekly drop for September but technology shares rose.
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Stocks on Wall Street finished nearly unchanged to give the benchmark indexes their first weekly drop for September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17.77 points, or 0.1%, to 13,579.
The S&P 500 index was down less a point to 1460.12, for its first weekly loss in three weeks.
Telecommunications shares rose while the financial and materials sectors lagged.
The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 4.00 points, or 0.1%, to 3179.96.
Other markets: Europe up, China at multi-year low
European stock markets moved higher amid speculation Spain may be setting the stage for a bailout request.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index added 0.5% to close at 275.78 and losing 0.1% over the week.
The UK’s FTSE 100 index swung between small gains and losses before closing slightly lower at 5,852.62. It gave up 1.1% over the week.
The German DAX 30 index closed up 0.8% at 7451.62 and rose 0.5% on the week.
The French CAC 40 index added 0.6% to 3530.72 but dropped 1.4% on a weekly basis.
Already at its lowest point in more than 3½ years, China's stock market suffered its worst week in nearly a year, losing 4.6%.
The Shanghai Composite Index was barely changed on Friday, up 0.1%, at 2026.69. On Thursday, it closed at its lowest point since February 2, 2009.
Commodities: Oil creeps higher
Crude-oil futures settled higher, rebounding from four straight losing sessions.
The gains came as the front-month contract switched to November futures. Light, sweet crude oil for November delivery rose 47USc, or 0.5%, to settle at $US92.89 a barrel in New York.
Currencies: Euro rises against greenback
The euro rose modestly against the US dollar, buoyed by reports that European officials may draft a rescue plan for Spain as soon as next week.
It was at $US1.2992, up from $US1.2968 late Thursday.
The dollar fell against the yen to ¥78.14 from ¥78.25.
The Australian dollar gained against the US dollar, trading at $US1.0452 from $US1.0435.
The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index dipped to 69.35 from 69.44 late on Thursday.
Nevil Gibson
Sat, 22 Sep 2012
Sat, 22 Sep 2012
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Free News Alerts
Sign up to get the latest stories and insights delivered to your inbox – free, every day.
World markets: Wall Street eases to weekly loss
24039