|
Interest rates in the Treasury market showed investors' uneasiness. Rates, which move in the opposite direction from prices, have fallen as investors seek a safe place for their money. The yield on the Treasury's 10-year note, which is used to set rates on consumer loans including mortgages, was 2.68 percent Friday, down from late Wednesday's 2.75 percent. A week ago, the yield stood at 2.82 percent, and on Aug. 2, the first trading day of the month, it was 2.97 percent. Philip S. Dow, director of equity strategy at RBC Wealth Management in Minneapolis said much of Friday's trading was likely coming from high-frequency traders, who used complex mathematical models and computers to make money off small differences in stock prices. Many other investors still have a lot of cash on the sidelines while they wait to see where the market is headed, Dow said. Stocks drew some support from the announcements of two planned corporate acquisitions. Asset manager Blackstone Group is paying $542.7 million to take power plant owner Dynegy Inc. private. The deal also calls for Blackstone to assume more than $4 billion in Dynegy's debt. Dynegy will also sell four power plants to NRG Energy Inc.
Dynegy rose $1.75, or 63 percent, to $4.53. Blackstone fell 38 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $10.63. And NRG fell 45 cents, or 2 percent, to $21.96. IBM Corp. said it's buying Unica Corp., a marketing services company, for $480 million. IBM fell 43 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $127.87. Unica more than doubled in price, rising $11.29 to $20.84. J.C. Penney fell 98 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $19.82. Other retailers also fell. Overseas markets were mixed. London's FTSE-100 index rose 0.2 percent, while Germany's DAX fell 0.4 percent and the CAC-40 index in Paris fell 0.3 percent. Investors in Europe were more concerned with signs of slowing growth in the U.S. than in their own economies. News that the European economy had grown 1 percent during the second quarter gave some support to stocks, but it was not enough to lift them across the board. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor