Wall Street ends mixed, lower for week

Source:Xinhua Published: 2012-9-22 15:58:07

US stocks ended narrowly mixed on Friday as investors expected Spain to get a bailout.

When the market closed, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17.46 points, or 0.13 percent, to 13,579.47. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was off 0.11 points, or 0.01 percent, to 1,460.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 4.00 points, or 0.13 percent, to 3,179.96.

Stocks were in positive territory during most of Friday's session as hopes for a possible bailout for Spain boosted sentiment.

With enthusiasm about the central bank's stimulus policy gradually fading away and no major economic news in sight, Spain took center stage once again as investors were expecting the debt- ridden country to ask for a bailout to help its economy.

On Friday, a report showed Spain has begun considering a series of structural reforms to meet the requests of the bailout fund and the plans would be disclosed on Sept. 27, but Spain's deputy prime minister later denied the report, triggering optimism and helping stocks erase early gains.

For the week, stocks have been largely flat, following a sharp rally in the previous week from the Federal Reserve stimulus decision, which pushed major averages to multi-year closing highs.

All three major indexes logged small losses. The Dow slipped 0. 10 percent, the S&P 500 dipped 0.38 percent, and the Nasdaq shed 0. 13 percent.

Among stocks in focus, shares of Apple rose as high as 705.07 dollars before ending at 700.09 dollars as its new iPhone 5 was officially in stores on Friday in Sydney, Tokyo, Paris and New York. Analysts expected iPhone 5 to be the company's best-selling product.

Kraft led in the Dow even after the food company was about to be dumped by the blue-chip index. Kraft will be replaced by health company UnitedHealth Group on the Dow Jones Industrial Average after market close.

In other markets, the US dollars were under pressure as speculations over a Spain bailout boosted the euro.

Oil prices gained on Friday, snapping a four-day losing streak. Light, sweet crude for November delivery added 47 cents, or 0.51 percent to settle at 92.89 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. But for the week, it still plunged 6.11 dollars, or 6.17 percent as a result of recent sell-off.



Posted in: Economy

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