|
 U.S. Treasuries yields eased at the end of a week of steady price
gains for government bonds, fueled by increasing worries that
economic growth in the world's No. 1 economy may be slower than
policymakers believe.
Worries about the economy persisted despite U.S. consumer sentiment
rising more than expected in a final June reading of a Thomson
Reuters/University of Michigan poll issued on Friday.
The dollar fell a quarter percent against a basket of major
currencies .DXY for a second week of losses.
Stocks on Wall Street rebounded in late trading, led by technology
stocks such as Apple Inc AAPL.O, while a downbeat second-quarter
forecast from DuPont Co limited gains.
The S&P 500 finished in striking distance of the intraday record
high it hit on Tuesday. But some held their breath in the prelude to
the earnings period that will start in the next two weeks, which
will provide clues on whether the economy and profits are both
picking up.
"Prices have finally achieved a certain valuation level that has
become increasingly uncomfortable for market participants in the
absence of further decisive evidence that the economy is on the
right track," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at
Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 5.71 points, or 0.03
percent, to end at 16,851.84. The S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.74 points,
or 0.19 percent, to finish at 1,960.96. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
advanced 18.88 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 4,397.93.
For the week, the Dow fell 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 0.1
percent. The Nasdaq added 0.7 percent for its sixth weekly rise in
the past seven.
[to top of second column] |
The 10-year benchmark yield was at 2.5340 percent, after hitting a
low of 2.507 percent earlier in the day.
Europe's main stock indicator, the FTSEurofirst300 .FTEU3 settled at
1,371.28, flat on the day, but down 1.7 percent for its first weekly
loss in 10 weeks. The MSCI world stocks gauge .MIWD00000PUS was at
428.10, up 0.2 percent on the day but down 0.3 percent on the week.
Gold XAU= had a fourth straight weekly gain to above $1,316 an
ounce, as geopolitical unrest in Iraq and Ukraine boosted the
precious metal's appeal and soft U.S. data weakened the dollar.
Brent crude oil LCOc1 settled at $113.30 a barrel, up 0.1 percent on
the day but down 1.4 percent on the week for its worst week in a
month as fighting in Iraq stayed away from the country's south,
where most of its oil is produced.
(Reporting by Barani Krishnan and David Gaffen in New York;
Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama, Meredith Mazzilli and Peter Galloway)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright
2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
