Stocks on Wall Street fell for a second day, ending lower for the second consecutive week as concerns about the US economy continued to weigh on investor sentiment.The Dow Jons Industrial Average lost 57.59 points, or 0.56%, to finish at 10213.62, leaving
Stocks on Wall Street fell for a second day, ending lower for the second consecutive week as concerns about the US economy continued to weigh on investor sentiment.
The Dow Jons Industrial Average lost 57.59 points, or 0.56%, to finish at 10213.62, leaving it in negative territory for the week, month and year. The Dow remains down 2.1% for the year.
Leading the its decline, Hewlett-Packard dropped 2.2%. The technology giant's profit climbed 6.1% on higher worldwide sales in its fiscal third quarter, its final quarter with Mark Hurd at its helm.
The Nasdaq Composite rose less than one point to 2179.76 while the S&P 500 index slipped 3.94 points to 1071.69.
Other markets: Europe down, Asia
The Stoxx Europe 600 index sank 0.7% to end the week down 1.3% at 252.15, its lowest since July 21. Losses were broad-based, with the auto, industrial-goods and construction sectors posting the steepest declines.
The French CAC-40 dropped 1.3% to 3526.12, falling 2.4% for the week. The German DAX dropped 1.2%, finishing down 1.7% on the week to 6005.16, and the UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.3%, adding up to a 1.5% weekly decline to 5195.28.
In Asia, exporters stumbled again in Japan as a strong yen hurt Tokyo shares. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2% to 9179.38 to erase the gains it accumulated earlier this week.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.1% to 4430.92, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.4% to 20,981.82, China's Shanghai Composite dropped 1.7% to 2642.31 and Taiwan's Taiex ended flat.
Korea's Kospi slipped 0.2% to 1775.54, India's Sensex shed 0.3% to 18,401.82 and Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 0.4% to 2936.48.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Crude futures continued their recent slide, settling at six-week lows. Oil prices have fallen in 11 out of the past 13 sessions.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell 97USc, or 1.3%, to settle at $US73.46 a barrel in New York. Trading for the contract, which expires today, was extremely light, with only 27,480 lots traded.
Second-month October prices, the most-actively traded contract, settled down 95USc, or 1.3%, to $US73.82. October Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $US1.04, or 1.4%, lower at $US74.26 a barrel.
Gold futures fell amid pressure from a stronger US dollar.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, dropped $US6.60, or 0.5%, to settle at $US1228.80 an ounce in New York. The August contract also fell $US6.60, or 0.5%, settling at $US1227.20.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
The dollar rallied broadly and hit a six-week high against the euro after a European Central Bank official suggested monetary policy should remain loose until next year.
A recent stream of weakening US economic data also continued to reverberate through markets, sending currencies closely tied to the pace of global economic growth, such as the Canadian dollar, sharply lower against the greenback.
The euro was at $US1.2707, compared with $US1.2819 late on Thursday. The dollar strengthened to ¥85.69 from ¥85.32.
The euro weakened to ¥108.89 from ¥109.37. The UK pound weakened to $US1.5536 from $US1.5594.
