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Wall Street erased the previous sessions strong gains to end a volatile week and month. Since reaching highs on October 19 the S&P 500 has lost 5.6%.

In economic news, the Chicago PMI rose from 46.1 in September to 54.2 in October. Forecasts were for the regional read on manufacturing to increase to 49.

The Dow Jones fell 249.85 points, or 2.51%, to 9,712.73, the S&P 500 lost 29.93 points, or 2.81%, to 1,036.18 and the NASDAQ dropped 52.44 points, or 2.50%, to 2,045.11.

Chevron shed 1.8% as it reported quarterly earning that beat expectations on revenue that fell sort of estimates. The energy company reported a 51% fall in profit versus a year earlier due to a drop in oil and gas prices.

Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips slid 3.1% and 2.2%.

NYMEX light crude oil for December delivery retreated $2.87 to settle at $77 a barrel.

Financials retreated heavily. Bank of America, JPMorgan and Citigroup slumped 7.3%, 5.8% and 5.1% respectively.

Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo fell 4.7% and 3.7%.

Apple was the worst of the tech majors with a 4% slide. Google lost 2.7%.

All 30 Dow components finished the day below the gain line. Caterpillar, United Technologies and Travelers dropped between 3.5% and 4.1%.  

COMEX gold for December delivery fell $6.70 to settle at $1,040.40 an ounce.

European Markets

European stocks lost the most ground in a single week since July. Resource stocks tracked commodity prices lower. 

The UK benchmark FTSE 100 weakened 93.17, or 1.81% to 5,044.55. The French CAC40 dropped 106.33 points, or 2.86% to 3,607.69, while the German DAX shed 172.49, or 3.09% to 5,414.96.

Banks took the most points of the indices. Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays fell 3.3% and 2.4%, while in Germany Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank lost 4% and 3.6%.

BNP Paribas dropped 4.3%, while Lloyds bucked the trend with a 1.2% gain.

Insurers Allianz, Prudential and Aviva shed 4.4%, 3.6% and 3.4% respectively. 

Energy heavyweights BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and BP fell 3.4%, 2.6% and 2.4%.

Total weakened 3.3%.

A drop in metals prices on the LME sent miners lower. Antofagasta and Xstrata slumped 6.1% and 6.8%, while Aussie peers BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto shed 4.5% and 3.3%.

Anglo American lost 3.7%. 

Japan Markets

The Nikkei spiked nearly 1.5% Friday as news the US had emerged from the recession encouraged export focussed stocks. Tech stocks also rallied.

The Nikkei 225 added 143.64, or 1.45% to 10,034.74.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s number one bank, added 1.4%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial eked out a 0.3% gain.

Sharp rose 2.5%, while camera maker Olympus spiked 9.2%.

Canon and Nikon put on 1.7% and 3.8%.

Takeda Pharmaceutical rallied 3.4% after reporting a doubling in first-half net income.

Hong Kong Markets

The Hang Seng surged Friday. The market was strong after the better than expected earnings from some of the banks, while reports the central bank would keep a loose monetary policy all contributed to positive sentiment.

The Hang Seng rose 487.88, or 2.29% to 21,752.87.

In a wrap-up of the banks, Bank of China surged 5.8%. ICBC added 3.5%.

HSBC added 1.6%, while Bank of Communications bucked the trend, slumping 1.7%.

A strong property sector helped the developers. House prices have rise 28% this year in Hong Kong.

Henderson Land rallied 7.5%, while New World added 1.4%.

CNOOC jumped 4.5% after saying production had jumped in the third quarter.

Tsingtao Brewery jumped 3.6% after reporting a near doubling in profits in the third quarter.

Metallurgical Corp. of China added 5.9%.

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Market Watch by egoli