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World market indices mixed

27 July 2009 08:04 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Vahab Rzayev - APA-Economics. Major stock indicators have climbed 11 percent in the past two weeks to their best levels since last fall as a series of upbeat earnings reports and forecasts boosted investors confidence about an economic recovery. Over the past 10 days, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 947 points and broke through 9,000 for the first time since January.

On Friday, though, investors showed their conservative side, selling tech stocks and making mostly modest purchases of other shares following weak profit reports from Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc.
On Friday, the Dow rose 23.95, or 0.3 percent, to 9,093.24, its highest finish since Nov. 5. The S&P 500 index rose 2.97, or 0.3 percent, to 979.26. It has risen 100 points in the two-week rally and is up 45 percent since it hit a 12-year low on March 9.
The Nasdaq fell 7.64, or 0.4 percent, to 1,965.96, taken down by the selling in tech stocks. The Nasdaq broke a 12-day winning streak, but it’s still up 24.7 percent for the year, far outpacing gains in the Dow and S&P.
For the week, the Dow rose 4 percent, the S&P 500 index added 4.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose 4.2 percent. Each of the indexes is up 11 percent in two weeks.
Investors will be bracing for another rush of data next week that could fuel or smother the rally. Quarterly results are due from big companies including Kellogg Co., ExxonMobil Corp. and Walt Disney Co. Economic snapshots include numbers on housing, consumer confidence and the economy’s overall output.
Bond prices rose, pushing yields slightly lower. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.66 percent from 3.67 percent late Thursday.
Microsoft fell $2.11, or 8.3 percent, to $23.45 after company reported revenue that fell short of analysts’ forecasts. Amazon.com also reported weaker-than-expected sales. It dropped $7.38, or 7.9 percent, to $86.49.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Oil rose 89 cents to settle at $68.05 a barrel.
About two stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to a relatively low 4.4 billion shares, compared with 6 billion Thursday. Light volume can skew the market’s moves.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.61, or 0.5 percent, to 548.46.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.3 percent, and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average jumped 1.6 percent. Source: AP