Stocks on Wall Street snapped their eight-day winning streak at the end of the week as commodities prices plunged.The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 37.19 points, or 0.4%, to 10,741.98, a rise of 1.1% for the week.It was the third weekly gain in a
Stocks on Wall Street snapped their eight-day winning streak at the end of the week as commodities prices plunged.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 37.19 points, or 0.4%, to 10,741.98, a rise of 1.1% for the week.
It was the third weekly gain in a row and fifth gain in the past six weeks for the blue chip index, which is up 3% since January 1. So far this month, the Dow has climbed 4%.
The S&P 500 index declined 0.5% to, led by declines in materials and energy. Baker Hughes declined 3.7%, while Consol Energy fell nearly 4% and Massey Energy lost 3.4%. Exxon Mobil fell 0.5%.
The S&P 500 finished the week up 0.9% to , also its third consecutive weekly gain.
Other markets
European markets also slipped. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 260.20 but rose 0.7% for the week.
Rio Tinto erased an early gain to fall 1.6%. Shares were buoyed in early action after the company signed a $1.35 billion deal with Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, to develop its Simandou iron-ore project in Guinea.
Lloyds Banking Group jumped 8.2% after the bank, which is 41% held by the UK government, said it expects to be profitable this year. Royal Bank of Scotland Group rising 4.8% and Barclays gaining 1.3%.
The UK FTSE 100 index held on to a 0.1% gain to close at 5650.13 for a weekly gain of 0.4%.
Germany’s DAX index slipped 0.5% to 5982.43 but rose for the third straight week, up 0.6%. In Paris, the CAC-40 index edged down 0.3% for the day and 0.05% for the week to 3925.44.
In Asian markets, the Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies rose 0.8% to 10,824.72, just off its intraday high, regaining most of Thursday's decline. For the week the Nikkei rose 0.7%.
Commodities: Oil, gold down
Crude oil futures dropped as investors exited from riskier markets on an interest-rate increase in India and concerns about the European Union's handling of Greece's debt.
Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled $US1.52, or 1.9%, lower at $US80.68 a barrel in New York. The most-active May futures contract settled $US1.57, or 1.9%, lower at $US80.97 a barrel. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange was down $US1.64, or 2%, at $US79.84 a barrel.
The combination of a muscular US dollar and an Indian interest-rate increase sent gold futures reeling.
The market fell through technical levels that triggered additional selling, pushing the metal to its lowest level in a week.
The most-active April contract tumbled $US19.90, or 1.8%, to $US1107.60.
Currencies: Dollar up, euro down
Risk-sensitive currencies fell at the end last week as commodity prices and stocks weakened.
The euro dipped to as low as $US1.3503, the lowest since March 2, when India's central bank unexpectedly raised rates, eroding demand for gold and other raw materials.
The volatile UK pound was hit harder by the flight to safety, sliding below the $US1.50 level before staging a partial recovery.
Commodity-linked currencies, particularly the New Zealand and Australian dollars, slumped as gold, oil and silver prices retreated.
The Canadian dollar also declined, its push to parity against the greenback temporarily halted by the move out of growth-sensitive assets.
The euro was at $US1.3537 from $US1.3609 late on Thursday. The dollar was at ¥90.56 from ¥90.35, while the euro was at ¥122.60 from ¥122.96. The UK pound was at $US1.5018 from $US1.5239.
