World markets: Wall Street slips, Europe plunges

Stocks on Wall Street fell after uninspiring readings on US manufacturing and wages growth.

Chicago-area business activity fell more than expected in September and contracted for the first time in three years.

Consumer spending outpaced wage gains in August, in part because of higher prices, a downbeat sign for faster economic growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 48.84 points, or 0.4%, to 13,437.13, trimming gains for the month and the quarter.

The S&P 500 index gave up 0.4%, to 1440.67. Materials and energy shares led declines while the utilities sector rose.

The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.6% to 3116.23.

Other markets: Europe slumps, Asia up
European stocks reversed early gains, with the Stoxx 600 index slipping 1.2% to 268.48. It was down 2.7% for the week, the biggest weekly loss since June.

The markets closed before the results of Spanish banks stress tests, which were better than expected, though bailout fears remain.

The UK's FTSE 100 lost 0.6% to 5742.07, Germany's DAX was off 1.0% to 7216.15 and France's CAC-40 fell 2.5% to 3354.82.

Asian markets mostly rose Friday as Chinese stocks continued to push away from mid-week lows. Japan was weighed down by weak industrial data.

The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.5% to 4387.00, following a hefty rally on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.4% higher at 20840.38.

The Nikkei was down 0.9% to 8870.16, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up less than 0.1% to 4387.00 and Korea's Kospi added 0.4% to 1996.21.

The Hang Seng Index added 7.2% over the past three months, the Nikkei lost 1.5%, and the S&P/ASX 200 was 7.1% higher.

Commodities: Oil steady, gold eases
Crude oil futures settled up 34USc, or 0.4%, at $US92.19 a barrel in New York, while October gold futures eased 0.4% to $US1772.90 an ounce.

Currencies: Euro falls against dollar
The euro fell against the US dollar, despite better-than-expected results from a Spanish bank audit.

The euro recently dropped to $US1.2844, down from $US1.2913 late on Thursday. It has appreciated 1.5% against the dollar in the third quarter after falling 5.1% in the previous quarter.

An independent audit showed Spanish banks need €53.75 billion in new capital, better than the €62 billion projected by Spain in June.

The dollar was at ¥77.94 compared with ¥77.60, while the euro was at ¥100.16 from ¥100.2.

The UK pound fell to a two-week low against the greenback, trading at $US1.6132 from $US1.6236. The dollar changed hands at 0.9407 Swiss franc from 0.9374 franc.