Blue-chip stocks on Wall Street closed the week slightly lower as regulatory worries weighed on drug makers.But the losses were muted in the face of positive profit reports from technology companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 7.34 point
Blue-chip stocks on Wall Street closed the week slightly lower as regulatory worries weighed on drug makers.
But the losses were muted in the face of positive profit reports from technology companies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 7.34 points, or 0.1%, to 11491.91, with American Express falling 1.3%. For the week the Dow rose 0.7%, its third consecutive weekly gain on improving US economic data.
Merck and Pfizer were among the Dow's biggest decliners as pharmaceutical stocks struggled after the US Food and Drug Administration delayed approval of a blood-thinning drug from European drug maker AstraZeneca.
This raised fears of greater hurdles in bringing new medications to market.
The S&P 500 index edged up 0.08% to 1243.91, led by material and utility stocks. The broad index has registered gains in nine of the past 11 weeks.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% to 2642.97, boosted by a slew of better-than-expected earnings from technology companies. Oracle climbed 3.9% after second-quarter earnings rose a better-than-expected 28%.
Research In Motion rose 1.6% after reporting record shipments of its BlackBerry smartphone in its fiscal third quarter,
Other markets: Europe down, Asia mixed
In Europe, banking stocks fell, pushing benchmarks into the red on disappointment over the European Union's response to the debt crisis and a downgrade of Ireland's credit rating.
In Dublin, the ISEQ index fell 0.5%, as Moody's Investors Service slashed Ireland's sovereign rating by five notches to Baa1 from Aa2. Bank of Ireland shares tumbled 14% and Allied Irish Banks fell 1.1%.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 276.42, leaving it up 0.1% for the week.
The French CAC 40 declined 0.5% to 3867.35, Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.6% to 6982.45 and the UK's FTSE 100 index slipped 0.2% to 5871.75.
Asian equity markets ended the ended mixed, with Taiwanese shares climbing to a fresh 31-month high on continued fund inflows.
Technology heavyweight Taiwan Semiconductor rose 2.4% and Chimei Innolux was up 0.4% on news of its plans to build a new touch-panel factory in China. The Taiex index rose 04% to 8817.90 – its highest finish since May 2008.
Chinese stocks remained sluggish on persistent concerns over further tightening measures from Beijing. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2% to 2893.74 and Hong Kong's Hang Sang Index rose 0.2% to 22,714.85.
Japan's Nikkei Average slipped 0.1% to 10,303.83, Korea's Kospi added 0.9% 2026.30, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.4% to 4763.08 and Singapore’s Straits Times was up 0.2% to 3153.01.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude-oil futures finished higher, as signs of economic improvement helped boost the case for pricier oil.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery settled up 32USc, or 0.4%, at $US88.02 a barrel in New York. Prices earlier fell as low as $US87.01 in morning trading. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled up 7USc at $US91.67 a barrel.
Gold futures rose as worries about Irish debt mounted.
Thinly traded nearby gold, for December delivery, gained $US8.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $US1,378.60 an ounce in New York. The most actively traded contract, for February delivery also gained 0.6%, to $US1379.20.
Currencies: Dollar up, pound down
The US dollar reached its highest level this month against a basket of currencies on Friday after European leaders agreed on a plan that was largely in line with traders’ lowest expectations.
The dollar had its second weekly gain against the euro and yen.
The euro declined to $US1.3173 compared with $1.3217 late on Thursday. Intraday, it slipped as far as $1.313.
The pound fell to $US1.5491 from $US1.5611. Versus the yen, the dollar turned down in afternoon trading as Treasury yields fell further. The dollar bought ¥83.90, down from ¥84.17 late on Thursday.
