Wall St retreats on Spain credit downgrade
With the markets closed Monday for the Memorial Day weekend, Friday also brought the curtain on trading for month, with the Dow Jones posting a near 8% drop for the month, its worst May result in 70 years.
Investors overlooked more positive economic indicators, with the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment index, 73.6 from 73.3 last month, ahead of expectations.
The Dow Jones fell 122.36, or 1.19%, to 10,136.63, the S&P 500 lost 13.65 points, or 1.24%, to 1,089.41 and the NASDAQ retreated 20.64 points, or 0.91%, to 2,257.04.
Citigroup shed 1.5%, while Bank of America and Wells Fargo fell 2.7% and 2.5% respectively.
Among tech stocks, Apple put on 1.5%, consolidating its position as the world’s largest tech company, as Microsoft dipped 0.8%
Search engines were out of favour with Yahoo! and Google down 2.2% and 1.1% respectively.
It was a mixed day for retailers with Wal-Mart down 0.3% and Macy’s edging 0.7% higher.
Among the Dow components, Caterpillar shed 2.1%, while Boeing was off 1.5%.
NYMEX light crude oil for July delivery fell US58c to settle at US$73.97 a barrel.
Exxon Mobil lost 1.6%, while Chevron retreated 0.7%.
Meanwhile, BP ADR’s fell 5.4% as its latest attempt to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak failed.
COMEX gold for August delivery rose US30c cents to settle at US$1,212.20 an ounce.
European Markets
It was a mixed, and generally flat, day for European markets. Across the region bets were even over whether the Eurozone is strong enough to withstand its current debt crisis.
The UK benchmark FTSE 100 lost 6.74, or 0.13% to 5,188.43. The French CAC40 retreated 10.25, or 0.29% to 3,515.06, while the DAX added 9.04, or 0.15% to 5,946.18.
In the UK, Barclays was 1.2% weaker, while Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland eased 0.5% and 0.1% respectively.
On the continent, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas lost 0.3% and 0.8% respectively.
It was a mixed day also for base metal prices, which was reflected among the mining stocks. BHP Billiton retreated 1.3%, while its Aussie peer Rio Tinto edged 0.2% above the line.
Xstrata added 0.4%, while Anglo American shed 0.9%.
BP slumped 5% as its woes over the Gulf of Mexico oil leak continue.
Royal Dutch Shell was 0.4% above the line.
The defensive GlaxoSmithKline put on 1.8%. Roche and Novartis added 1% and 1.5% respectively.
Japanese Markets
Japan’s Nikkei advanced for a second consecutive day as a weakening yen boosted the earnings prospects of exporters. Profit taking limited gains.
The Nikkei 225 rose 123.26, or 1.28% to 9,762.98.
Panasonic, TDK and Canon added between 1.5% and 1.7%, while Fanuc climbed 4.4%.
Automakers Toyota and Mazda closed 1.4% and 3.5% dearer.
Trading house Mitsui & Co. rose 1.4% following a rise in commodity prices.
Energy explorer Inpex Corp. jumped 4.8%, while Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co added 3.6%. The latter received a broker upgrade.
Among the heavyweight financials, Sumitomo Mitsui advanced 0.4%, while Mitsubishi UFJ shed 0.2%.
Hong Kong Markets
Hong Kong markets rallied Friday. The miners and banks led the rally on a strong lead from international markets and an upbeat economic outlook.
The Hang Seng surged 335.34, or 1.73% to 19,766.71.
Industrial and Commercial Bank rose 1.2%, while Bank of China added 1.3%.
Bank of Communications was 3.4% above the line, while HSBC rallied 2.1%.
Warren Buffet backed carmaker BYD surged 9.3% after saying it would set up a JV with Daimler Chrysler.
PetroChina added 3.5%, while Chinalco gained 3.4%. Off-shore oil producer Cnooc was 2.8% dearer.
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