Stocks on Wall Street ended the week on a positive note, bolstered by Caterpillar's confidence in Asia's economy, though worries about Europe continued to dog the market.The euro weakened and gold futures set a second closing record in a row as some inves
Stocks on Wall Street ended the week on a positive note, bolstered by Caterpillar’s confidence in Asia's economy, though worries about Europe continued to dog the market.
The euro weakened and gold futures set a second closing record in a row as some investors continued to look for safe havens.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 16.40 points or 0.2% to 10,450.57, a 2.3% rise for the week. Caterpillar was among the measure's top performers, up 1.4%, after the industrial giant posted a 38% year-over-year jump in machine sales in Asia for May.
The Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.1% at 2309.80 and the S&P 500 rose 0.1% at 1117.51. The latter's health-care sector weighed on the broad index, although the energy and materials sectors climbed.
Ratings firm Moody's downgraded BP's credit rating three notches, as costs and exposure to litigation from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continue to mount.
Separately, BP’s standby loan facility has risen to $US7 billion as more banks sign up to provide the company with short-term funding.
Other markets: Europe, Asia mixed
European shares eked out yet another small advance as gains for banks offset losses for major pharmaceuticals.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index firmed 0.2% at 255.50, marking the eighth consecutive day of gains for the index, though the total rise has been just 6.4%.
The French CAC-40 index edged up 0.1% at 3687.21, also its eighth gain in a row. But the German DAX index eased 0.1% to 6216.98, and the UK FTSE 100 index shed 0.1 to 5250.84, breaking its seven-run streak.
China's shares ended lower, lagging behind other Asian markets.
The Shanghai Composite index fell 1.8%, to 2513.22, part of a holiday-shortened 2.2% loss for the week.
But Hong Kong's Hang Seng index firmed 0.7%, to 20,286.71, capping a 2.1% gain for the week, the best weekly showing in more than two months.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies finished slightly lower at 9995.02, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.5% to 4551.89, its sixth gain in eight sessions.
Commodities: Oil, gold up
Crude-oil futures posted a slim rise as concerns linger over near-term oversupply.
Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled 39USc higher at $US77.18 a barrel in New York after trading in a relatively tight range of $75.56-77.45 a barrel. The August contract, which will take over next Wednesday as the front month, settled 22USc higher at $US78.26 a barrel.
Gold futures set a record for a second consecutive day, as investors continued to put faith in the metal's value amid largely uncertain markets elsewhere.
Front-month gold for June delivery gold on Friday gained $9.70 per troy ounce, or 0.8%, to $1,257.20 on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, breaking the settlement record set Thursday.
The most actively traded contract, for August delivery, settled $US9.60, or 0.8%, higher at a fresh all-time high of $US1,258.30 an ounce in New York, breaking the previous session record. It also hit an intraday record of $US1263.70.
Currencies: Euro down, yen up
The euro slipped slightly against the dollar, but that failed to dent the biggest weekly rise for the common currency since May 2009.
After falling a week ago to $US1.1876, a level not seen since March 2006, the euro has rebounded more than 4%.
The euro had slipped to $US1.2374 from $US1.2385 late on Thursday. The dollar weakened slightly to ¥90.74 from ¥90.97. The euro weakened to ¥112.20 from ¥112.66. The UK pound moved to $US1.4823 from $US1.4815.
