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US market indices drop ahead of Memorial Day

25 May 2009 08:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Wall Street reversed course late in the day Friday, finishing lower as early gains built on better earnings reports from retailers faded away, AP reported.

Trading was choppy, and the market’s swings were exaggerated by light volume ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.

Floor trading is shut for Memorial Day in the U.S. today. Markets in London are also closed for a bank holiday.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14.81, or 0.2 percent, to 8,277.32. The S&P 500 index slipped 1.33, or 0.2 percent, to 887.00, and the Nasdaq composite index lost 3.24, or 0.2 percent, to 1,692.01.

Meanwhile, gold prices rose about 1 percent as investors looked for safety.
In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 3.60, or 0.8 percent, to 477.62.
Markets will be closed Monday for Memorial Day.
About five stocks rose for every four that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 4.34 billion shares, down sharply from 5.77 billion shares at the same time a day earlier.
Oil rose 62 cents to $61.67 per barrel.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent, Germany’s DAX index added 0.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.3 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.4 percent.